Man jumps off Vakola flyover, lands on car

Mumbai, May 3: A suicide attempt gone wrong saved the life of a 21-year-old "jilted lover". Ghanshyam Nagar jumped off the Vakola flyover on the Western Express Highway early on Tuesday morning but landed on a car below. The police arrested Nagar for his attempt and produced him before court; he has been remanded to 14 days' judicial custody.

Nagar told the police that he used to work at a hotel in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and was in love with a Mumbai girl. "He says he had come to Mumbai to commit suicide. He does not talk much and has told us nothing more than that," said an investigating officer.

At about 2.30 am on Tuesday morning, Nagar first threw his bag full of clothes from the flyover on the stretch going towards Bandra. Seeing the bag fall, the driver of a passing red Toyota Altis, which belongs to a city hotel, stopped his vehicle and got off to see who had thrown it. To his horror, he saw the man jump off the flyover and land on top of his car. Its roof got dented on impact.

Despite the early hours, a crowd quickly gathered at the spot. A mobile unit of the Vakola police, which too was passing by at that moment, saw the crowd and went to investigate. Those gathered had by then brought Nagar down from atop the taxi. The beat constables took him to V N Desai Hospital in the vicinity, where he was treated for an injury to his jaw; he has not sustained any serious injuries. According to medical reports, Nagar was not drunk at the time of the incident.

The police said that if the driver had not stopped his vehicle, the man would have certainly fallen to his death. "Thankfully, the car did not have a carriage on its roof, or else the youth would have been severely injured," a police officer said.

Nagar's family has been contacted in Indore and they will reach the city in two days. "We are trying to get him to divulge more about himself and why he tried to commit suicide," said senior police inspector Rajendra Pardesi of Vakola police station. Nagar, though, continues to remain mum about his relationship.