The NSE Nifty also succumbed to all-round selling and cracked the 8,200-mark by falling 187.65 points or 2.25 per cent to 8,137.60.
Besides, fresh weakness in the rupee which depreciated by 41 paise to Rs 64.26 (intra-session) against the dollar and a weak trend in global markets too dampened trading sentiments, brokers said.
After two days of the rally, Sensex slumped 442 points in late-morning deals following weakness in global stocks amid profit-booking by wary operators ahead of the IIP and CPI data to be released later in the day.
The gauge had gained 908.19 points in the previous two sessions on the back of government's move to assuage overseas investors' taxation concerns and hopes of RBI rate cut.
Major losers that dragged down the key indices were Vedanta (5.05 pc), Tata Steel (4.95 pc), BHEL (4.18 pc), ICICI Bank (3.77 pc), Hindalco (3.45 pc), Tata Motors (2.95 pc), L&T (2.71 pc), NTPC (2.71 pc), RIL (2.71 pc), ONGC (2.71 pc), Bajaj Auto (1.99 pc) and Infosys (1.96 pc).