Thiruvananthapuram | A 51-year-old convict serving a life sentence in a murder case was found hanging inside a cell at the Poojapura Central Prison and Correctional Home here, police said on Thursday.

The deceased was identified as Sreenivasan, a native of Kollengode, Palakkad, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2004 murder case by the Additional Sessions Fast Track Court in his native district.

According to officials, prison staff found him hanging inside cell No 17 in the prison's 12th block where inmates under treatment are admitted by around 9.10 pm on Wednesday.

He was immediately taken to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, where the duty doctor examined him and declared him dead, the FIR said.

The FIR was registered under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) on Thursday based on a written complaint from the prison's joint superintendent, police said.

Sreenivasan had been transferred from the Nettukaltheri Open Jail to the Central Prison and Correctional Home in December 2019 after he went absconding while on parole, police said.

Police said he had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had been depressed since then.

The body will be handed over to his relatives after a postmortem examination.

Police are conducting a detailed investigation into the incident, officials added.