The safety net was installed on the second floor of Mantralaya in 2018 after two people had died by suicide and two survived similar attempts in less than a month
Mumbai: In an unprecedented drama, a man jumped from the seventh floor and landed on a safety net, which is installed on the second floor to prevent suicide attempts, in Mantralaya, the state secretariat. The police rescued him and took him to Marine Drive police station for questioning.
According to sources, a man named Vijay Saste, who is from Varje village in Pune district, jumped from the seventh floor at the high-security Mantralaya complex protesting against the state government over a property-related issue. However, he landed with a big thud and got stuck in the second-floor safety net. The police personnel present in the Mantralaya immediately rushed to the site and tried to rescue him. They managed to escort him back inside the building.
A video of the incident, which has surfaced on social media, shows police personnel persuading the man after he landed on the net before eventually rescuing him. Officials confirmed that he did not sustain any serious injuries.
The man had printed leaflets stating that the state revenue department had failed to register land documents on his name. The young man flew over the safety nets while throwing the leaflets, which also had the words ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (long live the revolution) written on them.
The incident comes just weeks after a high-end face recognition system was installed in the Mantralaya to boost security on the premises.
In October last year, a similar incident occurred when several tribal MLAs, led by Maharashtra assembly deputy Speaker Narhari Jhirwal, jumped onto a safety net to protest against the Dhangar community’s demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes category.
The safety net was installed on the second floor of Mantralaya in 2018 after two people had died by suicide and two survived similar attempts in less than a month. One such case involved 45-year-old murder convict Harshal Raote, who jumped from the fifth floor after failing to secure a parole extension.
