A 25-year-old man, who is suspected to be a thief, jumped from the fourth floor of a residential building at Churchgate on Friday to evade arrest, though police and fire brigade had set up a safety net. Later, he died at a hospital.
According to residents of Jayant Mahal society and police, the man entered the building around 4 am.
“While the watchman was posted at one gate, he jumped over the other gate to enter the building. Soon after spotting him, the watchman raised an alarm. One of the residents dialled the police,” a police officer said.
Seeing policemen, the man started climbing up the building using the drainage pipe, the officer said.
“He went up using the drainage pipe and window air conditioners and stood on a window ledge. The policemen tried to cajole him to come down with a promise that he would not be arrested, but it did not help. Then they decided to call the fire brigade,” Milind Bhatt, a resident, said.
Fire brigade and police personnel held a plastic safety net and asked the man to jump into it. Some residents also tried to persuade him to enter one of the houses on the fourth floor, but in vain.
“After nearly three hours of persuasion, a young policeman, using a safety belt, got down from the window on the fourth floor around 7.15 am. As soon as the policeman went near him, the man jumped from the fourth floor into the compound of the adjacent building, Vishwa Mahal,” Subhash Harlalka, a resident of Vishwa Mahal, said.
“He was seriously injured. The police immediately took him to JJ Hospital,” said Harlalka.
The man, who is yet to be identified, succumbed to his injuries in the evening. “At the hospital he told us that his name was Rohit but before we could get details about him, he died. We are trying to identify him,” Vishwanath Kolekar, senior police inspector of Marine Drive police station, said.
“We are trying to trace his family members,” an officer from Marine Drive police station said.
The police have registered a case under section 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) and 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.
“We were seeing it all. The policemen and the fire brigade tried their best to safely get him down. Suddenly this man said, ‘Vande Mataram’ and jumped down. The news of his death was saddening for us all,” Anil Bhatia, a resident of the nearby building and a member of the Marine Drive resident’s association, said.
“The police regularly patrol the area. However, societies need to improve and review security arrangements. Every building should have an hourly attendance system which would keep the watchmen alert,” Mahendra Hemdev, another resident of Vishwa Mahal and a member of the Marine Drive resident’s association, said.