Bengaluru: An alert personnel from Ashok Nagar traffic police station rescued a 37-year-old man who attempted to end his life by jumping off the Richmond flyover on Wednesday evening. The man, a tractor driver residing in Yelahanka and from Kolar district, had a heated argument with his wife on the flyover, said police.
As the man attempted to jump, he dropped his mobile phone on the road below. Head constable Lokesh DG noticed this and immediately drove his motorcycle against the traffic with sirens blaring and stopped the man from taking the extreme step.
The couple was travelling in a car between 6.30pm and 6.45pm. Following an argument over a trivial issue, the husband got out of the car, which was being driven by his brother-in-law (wife's brother), and tried to jump from the flyover. He first threw his mobile phone from the flyover to the road below in Richmond Circle.
Lokesh, who was on the road below, noticed the phone and looked up at the flyover. He saw a woman and a man trying to stop a person on the flyover. He assumed the man was a chain-snatcher and decided to nab him. He jumped on to the department's Cobra two-wheeler, switched on the siren, and rode against the permitted one-way movement on Residency Road. Lokesh reached the spot within two minutes and caught the man. Only after that did he realise that the man was not a thief and was the husband of the woman who was stopping him from jumping off the flyover.
With the help of commuters, Lokesh managed to put the man in the car and alerted Ashok Nagar police. A Hoysala team escorted the family down the flyover till Residency Road and learnt that the man was mentally disturbed over the death of his grandmother two months ago. He had been acting abnormally since then, saying his grandmother's soul had entered his body. So, his wife and brother-in-law had taken him to Nimhans and were returning home after treatment when the incident happened.
Senior officials appreciated the timely response from Lokesh in saving the life of the man. The couple was let go after questioning.