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Drive to bridge, jump to death

By Rajesh Kumar, Section News
Posted on Mon Aug 15, 2005 at 10:10:12 PM EST

KOLKATA: A youngster parked his bike on Vidyasagar Setu on Friday evening, jumped two barricades, clambered up road dividers and plunged into the Hooghly. This he did in full public view. The carriageway was thick with rush-hour traffic.

An onlooker ran after the desperate young man, but failed to catch up with him. "I saw him stand up on the rails. The next moment he was gone," he recalled.

Some motorists, who saw the man on his suicidal dash, stopped, yelled and even tried to stop him. But he beat them to it.

Pedestrians aren't allowed on Vidyasagar Setu and hence, unlike Howrah Bridge where many suicides have happened in the past, the new bridge has remained free of such incidents. This was the first such incident on Vidyasagar Setu. Till late evening, the police were searching for the youngster's body. This was even after divers were deployed.

Those manning the toll plaza on the far end of the bridge said it was easy to keep a watch on cars, but virtually impossible to keep an eye on those with a death drive. "You simply can't see what's going on in the middle," a policeman said.

The man who took the plunge on Friday, deputy commissioner (south) N R Babu said, had driven down from Howrah. He parked his two-wheeler (WB-12J-5959) right in the middle of the bridge span, took off his glasses and slippers, climbed two barricades, scaled the railing and dived.

Immediately, Howrah police were alerted. They were given the two-wheeler number so that the owner could be identified. However, till late evening, his identity couldn't be traced.

The city has been rocked by nearly two dozen suicides in the last couple of months. The list includes a brilliant researcher, jilted lovers, schoolgirls, young executives, businessmen and even the seemingly better-off.

Also on Friday, a trader Chandan Halder (35) and his wife Durga committed suicide in Diamond Harbour by taking poison.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1199822.cms

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