Terror accused hangs himself in Ghaziabad jail

Ghaziabad, June 20: A man suspected of involvement in the Frontier Mail blast in 1997 committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell in Ghaziabad, police said Saturday.

The death occurred Friday in the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad where Shakeel was lodged after he was convicted by a Delhi court to 10 years’ imprisonment in another terror related case in 1998. He was transferred to the Dasna jail in 2006 and the Frontier Mail blast case was pending against him, police said.

Shakeel was a resident of Pilkuwa in Ghaziabad district and according to family sources was under great stress as he felt that the Frontier Mail blast case was taking too long.

“On Friday, he hung himself in his cell,” a police officer said.

“When we came to know about the incident, we took him to the government hospital where doctors declared him dead. Warden Taj Pal Yadav has been suspended,” the police officer said.

Two people were killed and 22 injured in the Frontier Mail blast in Ghaziabad in 1997.

—Agencies