Convict attacks police escort for not buying him beedi

A policeman was injured Monday when the convict he was escorting to a court hit him with handcuffed hands and tried to escape as he was reportedly not allowed to buy a beedi, police said.

The incident occurred when the civil police officer Prabin was accompanying the convict Ramachandran sentenced to 23 years of imprisonment from the central jail in Thiruvananthapuram to a court in Chalakkudy near here, the police said.

Ramachandran attacked Prabin for not letting him buy him beedi, they said.

"He (convict) attacked Prabin and tried to escape from the court premises but was overpowered by the public and caught," the police said.

Prabin, who was injured has been given medical attention and the convict taken back to Poojapura jail with an escort company of police from Chalakkudy.

In a similar case, an accused in a theft case tried to escape from a police station in Kottayam district.

Dileep (19) attacked the policemen while he was being brought back to the station after the mandatory medical examination, police said.

After fleeing from the station, Dileep with half-broken handcuffs went into hiding, but was soon caught with the help of the locals, they said.