An undertrial lodged in the Central jail here in connection with a motorcycle theft case committed suicide by hanging on a tree in the jail campus on Saturday.

Ganapathi, 24, from Perundhurai was lodged in jail on December 26 on charges of motorcycle theft in Tirupur. As Ganapathi was suffering from breathing problem, he was being given treatment in the jail hospital, police said.

Ganapathi was found missing from the cell from early morning. Later wardens found him hanging dead from a tree in the jail campus, they said. Senior officials rushed to the spot, recovered his body and sent it to Government Hospital for postmortem.