KANPUR: A 48-year-old man accused of murdering his twin daughters attempted suicide in Kanpur jail by slitting his throat with a sharpened steel plate, officials said on Monday.The accused, identified as Shashi Ranjan Mishra, a medical representative from Kidwai Nagar, was rushed to Ursula Horsman Memorial (UHM) Hospital after inmates noticed him bleeding inside the bathroom of the barrack and informed jail authorities.According to jail officials, Mishra allegedly sharpened the edge of his steel food plate by rubbing it repeatedly against a hard surface before using it to injure his throat.According to jail Superintendent Rajesh Pandey, “Prison guards and jail officials immediately took Mishra out from the bathroom and shifted him first to the jail hospital and later to UHM hospital for treatment. Mishra suffered minor neck injuries and is now stable. He is likely to be discharged and brought back to jail by Monday evening,”During questioning at the hospital, Mishra allegedly gave different versions of the incident, an official said on condition of anonymity.Initially, he claimed he was suffering from depression and was not receiving treatment inside the jail. Later, he alleged that fellow inmates had attacked him, the official added.Authorities have now ordered an inquiry into the incident, including how the accused managed to convert a steel plate into a sharp weapon inside the barrack.Mishra was arrested around a month ago for allegedly killing his 11-year-old twin daughters, Riddhi and Siddhi, at his apartment in Trimoorti Phase-II in Kidwai Nagar under the Naubasta police station area.Police said Mishra, originally from Bihar, allegedly slit the throats of the two girls with a sharp-edged weapon during the intervening night of April 18 and 19.According to police, Mishra himself alerted authorities about the incident and was arrested from the flat.He lived with his wife Reshma, who is from Siliguri in West Bengal, the twin girls and their six-year-old son.Commissioner of Police Raghubir Lal had told PTI, “A police response vehicle received a call around 4.30 am about the murder of twin sisters. On reaching the flat, the personnel found both girls lying dead in a pool of blood, while the accused was present inside.”“Prima facie, the father appears to be mentally disturbed. Further investigation is underway,” Lal had said.
