Accused attempts suicide in lock-up

Vadodara: Officials of Warasia police station and Zone IV of city police had a harrowing experience on Saturday midnight when a person arrested in a case of rash driving and lodged in the lock-up inside the police station, started to bang his head on the iron bars.
The Gotri resident, Pritesh Taviyad, was arrested with his friend Dhruv Chavda late on Saturday night for ramming their bike into a lawyer’s car near Sangam crossroads. Taviyad, whose father works as a home guard, and Chavda were kept in the lock-up after an FIR was registered against them. However, a few minutes later Taviyad started ramming his head hard on the iron bars injuring his forehead and bleeding profusely.

Cops immediately pulled him out and made him sit in the police station officer’s (PSO) room. But even there Taviyad started to bang his head on the PSO’s table. Taviyad was then rushed to Jamnabai Hospital where doctors treated his wound, but no sooner they bandaged his forehead, Taviyad started to bang his head again, this time on a glass pane inside the hospital. Inspector of Warasia police station, S S Anand said, “Doctors asked us to take him to SSG Hospital as they suspected that he may be facing from a psychological problem.”

At the state-run SSG hospital, Taviyad was counselled by a psychologist after which he was taken back to the police station, where cops kept a constant watch on him so that he did not play mischief again. A case of suicide attempt was registered against him, said the official.

Anand told TOI that Taviyad works at a prominent cardiac hospital on Old Padra Road and that his family members too said that he behaves in similar manner at home as well. “We have also got his blood samples tested to ensure that he was not acting under any substance influence,” Anand said.