Jamshedpur man jumps to death from Kharkai bridge

Jamshedpur, Feb 21: Amidst rising concerns over lack of safety on bridges, a 47-year-old man committed suicide by jumping from the Kharkai bridge under the Bistupur police station  area on Tuesday morning.

Identified as Suresh Gupta, the deceased had travelled from Parsudih to Bistupur by riding his Scooty to take the step.

The man soon parked the two-wheeler on the Kharkai old bridge and left his cell phone on the vehicle’s seat before moving toward the bridge’s railing. Soon he climbed up the railing and jumped down. He was instantly killed after being hit by the rocks.

By the time more people see the dead body, the cell phone that the deceased had left on Scooty’s seat rang, prompting one of them to receive the call. It was the deceased’s anxious daughter on the other end. It was at this point that the deceased was identified as Suresh Gupta.

The family members of the deceased had rushed to the spot within an hour after getting to know about the tragic incident.

A team of Bistupur police station turned up at the scene and removed the body to MGM medical college mortuary for postmortem.

“We are investing the incident and are yet to get a formal statement from the bereaved family, but the reason behind the suicide must be related to some serious family dispute,” said Vishnu Raut.

Concerned over rising cases of suicides attempts from Kharkai Bridge in Adityapur, city based suicide prevention centre Jeevan had also raised a demand to ensure proper safety.

“Within a span of a year several cases of suicides have been reported of drowning near Kharkai bridge. Though the figures are not alarming but if immediate steps are not taken, bridges at Mango and Adityapur might turn into suicide points,” said an official of Jeevan.

 “We are also demanding proper safety at the new bridges that are under construction in the city. Safety should be the first priority. If the number of bridges will increase the risk of people jumping from it will also increase so proper care needs to be taken,” noted the official.