In a dramatic incident, a man from Nasik jumped from the seventh floor of Mantralaya, the state secretariat in Mumbai, on Tuesday. However, he was saved after landing on the safety net installed at the first floor of the high security building.
Police said that the man appeared to be protesting against the state government’s revenue department officials over a property dispute. They are investigating the motive behind his actions, noting that pamphlets he carried contained the slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (long live the revolution).
Police who were present in large numbers at Mantralaya rescued the man and brought him to the police station to register a case against him.
After a series of suicide attempts, safety nets were installed at Mantralaya as a preventive measure in 2018. That year, two people died by suicide, while two others survived similar attempts within a month. Opposition leaders had called Mantralaya a "suicide point" and demanded stricter safety measures.
The incident comes weeks after a facial recognition system was installed at Mantralaya to boost security.
In October last year, a similar incident occurred when several tribal MLAs, led by Maharashtra assembly deputy Speaker and NCP MLA Narhari Jhirwal, jumped from the third floor of the Maharashtra Mantralaya onto the safety net. They were protesting against the Dhangar community’s demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Caste category.
The legislators landed on the second-floor safety net of the Mantralaya quadrangle, threatening to stage a sit-in protest. They were demanding a meeting with the then chief minister Eknath Shinde to discuss their long-standing concerns. Interestingly, Zirwal is a minister in the incumbent government.
A TV journalist held a sit-in protest against the police who tried to prevent the media from filming the man who jumped off the seventh floor. The journalist accused some cops of blocking the camera and even assaulting them, demanding action against the police for suppressing their voice and preventing them from doing their duty.