90-minutes drama: Powai cops talk British national out of suicide plan

MUMBAI: In high drama that unfolded at a residential complex in Powai recently, police drew upon all their crisis negotiation skills as they tried to talk a British national out of his plans to end his life.
It took almost an hour and a half, but the police finally dissuaded the British national, Sam (full name withheld to protect privacy). The 61-year-old, who works as the managing director of a US-based firm which has its office in Andheri, was in depression after suffering a paralytic stroke recently.
On June 27, Powai police received a call from the police control room alerting them about the situation.
ACP Milind Khetle said Sam called his wife in Sydney, Australia, and told her he was going to end his life. His wife immediately informed the British deputy high commission in Mumbai. Officials from the foreign mission informed the police control room.
A team led by ACP Khetle immediately swung into action and reached the address in Hiranandani Gardens around 10 am. However, they found the door locked from inside. "It took us almost 30 minutes to convince him to open the door. We could hear him fling household items on the floor. We calmly spoke to him saying we had come to help him," Khetle told TOI.
When he finally relented and opened the door, cops found the entire floor of the living room strewn with medicine pills and other household items, ACP Khetle added.
After going through his medical papers, police found out that he was under treatment from a neurologist at Hiranandani Hospital, Powai.
"An ambulance was called, but he was not ready to get inside and got violent. After some more convincing, he agreed to go to the hospital, but said he wanted to be taken in the police vehicle. We agreed to do so and he was then taken to hospital in a police jeep. Later, British deputy high commission officials visited Sam in hospital. His son came from the UK and has got him discharged," said inspector Anagha Satavase.
On Thursday, the head of consular operations, Western India, British deputy high commission & consular officer, Western India, visited the Powai police station and thanked them for preventing Sam from taking the extreme step.