Mumbai: 55-year-old man threatens to jump from 5th floor of Mantralaya building; held

Mantralaya. File Pic

In a dramatic incident at the Mantralaya in Mumbai on Tuesday, a 55-year-old man threatened to jump off a fifth floor window, triggering panic for about half-an-hour before he was detained by police, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, at around 3 pm, the man identified as Arvind Patil, resident of Satara in Maharashtra, entered the secretariat's annex building in south Mumbai, went to its fifth floor, climbed a window ledge and sat there, demanding an inquiry into potholes and tree felling on the Karad-Chiplun national highway, an official said.

The officials requested him to get inside the building, fearing he may fall.

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The man, however, threatened to jump off the building, following which police and fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot, the official said.

Fire brigade personnel tried to convince him not to take such a step and also put a net on the ground to catch him in case he jumped.

They also brought a vehicle to rescue him safely from the building, the official said.

Some fire brigade personnel then went to the fifth floor and after engaging the man in conversation, they succeeded in bringing him inside following which the police detained him, the official said.

The man was taken to the Marine Drive Police Station where he would be counselled, the official said.

Meanwhile, in an another similar incident in March this years, a 52-year-old man had allegedly attempted suicide by jumping from the third floor of the Mantralaya, the state secretariat in Mumbai, but landed on the safety net, the police had said.

According a previous PTI report, the man, a street food vendor from north Mumbai's Borivali, had reportedly come to the Mantralaya in south Mumbai to meet a minister to raise the issue of the civic authorities taking action against his shop, an official had earlier said.

When he reportedly failed to meet the minister, he allegedly attempted suicide by jumping from the third floor of the building but landed on the safety net, he had said.

The man was detained by the police and later taken to Marine Drive Police Station for further investigations.

The safety net was installed at the Mantralaya specifically to foil such suicide attempts after similar incidents took place in the past.

(with PTI inputs)