Mentally unstable youth in cop’s costume jumps from Mundali barrage, rescued in Odisha
CUTTACK: High drama unfolded on the Mundali barrage for about three hours on Friday morning as a youth in police uniform attempted suicide by jumping into the Mahanadi river.
The 24-year-old youth identified as Bikram Tudu of Palasadangi in Dhenkanal was rescued by fire services personnel and local fishermen, who handed over him to Baranga police.
According to reports, a group of fishermen found a motorcycle parked on the bridge and thereafter noticed the youth with helmet on lying inside the constricted space over one of the barrage gates, at around 8 am.
Locals soon gathered on the bridge and pleaded with him to come out. However, Tudu seemed to relish all the attention on him and began to play to the crowd. He was soon seen dancing and exercising at his precarious perch.
His antics went on for hours even as police and fire service personnel, who rushed to the spot, tried their best to dissuade him and get him to safety. Tudu then jumped into the river. The fire services personnel and local fishermen, however, were prepared with boats for his rescue.
They immediately pulled him up from the waters and handed him to the police.
“Tudu works as a mason. He has been mentally unsound and undergoing treatment. During interrogation, he said, he had got the uniform on rent from a costumes shop,” said IIC, Baranga police station, Debendra Nath Biswal.
The IIC said his family was informed about the incident. His elder brother came and took him home after consulting doctors in the psychiatric department of SCB medical college and hospital.