'He complained of chest pain and then jumped'

Coast Guard, Indian Navy, police and fire brigade conducted a long search

A 25-year-old man jumped off the Bandra Worli sea link on Friday. His body was recovered from the sea off Bandra bandstand after an eight-hour search and rescue operation by the Indian Navy divers, fire brigade and Mumbai Police. The Coast Guard, too, deployed its helicopter for the purpose. The deceased was later identified as Parth Somani, who hailed from Kutch in Gujarat. CCTV footage showed Somani alighting from a taxi at pole number 52 around 1.15 pm and jumping into the sea.

The incident "was recorded in the CCTV which helped the police identify the exact spot," said senior inspector Sukhlal Varpe of Worli police station. A passer-by who witnessed the incident immediately alerted the police after which they reached the spot along with the fire brigade. Indian Navy divers and Coast Guard helicopters joined the rescue operations later and the body was recovered after eight hours. A rough sea delayed the search, officials said.

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"The 62-year-old taxi driver of Somani got scared after the incident and fled the location. He was traced after some time and his statement was recorded," Varpe added.

In his statement to the police, the taxi driver told the police that Somani "had asked him to stop the cab saying 'mujhe attack jaisa lag raha hai, sans lene me dikkat aarahi hai' [it seems like an attack to me, I am having trouble breathing]." Once the driver stopped the cab, Somani walked towards the barricades and jumped into the sea. "I got scared and left the location," the driver told the police.

The police spoke to Somani's friends later and were told that "he seemed to have been depressed due to some reason but had never revealed it to his friends." His family in Kutch has been informed about the incident and the body has been sent for a post-mortem analysis. His family is yet to arrive in Mumbai.

An accidental death report has been registered at the Worli police station. Preliminary inquiry revealed that Somani had been residing in a community hostel for a year and was pursuing an online company security (CS) course. He had also joined a CA firm in Mulund three days ago as an intern. "We are gathering further details about his reason to visit Worli and the exact trigger for his action," the police said.

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