Hyderabad man jumps off Ro-Ro off Mandwa coast, search ops on

A man from Hyderabad, identified as Naimuddin Chaudhary, is suspected to have committed suicide by jumping off a boat near Mandwa Jetty in Raigad. The search operation for him is ongoing.

Navi Mumbai: In a suspected suicide case, a man, in his late twenties, from Hyderabad jumped off a Ro-Ro boat near Mandwa Jetty in Raigad on Monday morning. The local police and fishermen carried out a search operation for close to six hours but the person identified as Naimuddin Chaudhary was not found.

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Chaudhary, originally from Assam, was working in Hyderabad. He boarded the Ro-Ro M2M boat from Bhaucha Dhakka in Mumbai on Monday morning at around 8am and while the boat was around 1.5 nautical miles away from the Mandwa jetty, he jumped off, shocking the passengers.

“After we got the information that a man had fallen off the boat, we checked the CCTV and saw that the man who was seated had stood up, moved towards the edge and jumped off. He had covered his face with a handkerchief and hence we couldn’t see his face clearly in the footage,” assistant police inspector Govind Patil from Mandwa said.

After verifying the ferry passengers’ list, the police came to know the name and mobile number of the victim. “The man jumped with his mobile phone and had no luggage with him due to which we do not have much details about him. We are working on the call data record and are trying to locate his family. We do not know what he worked on or what led to this extreme step,” Patil added.

Asked if he worked in the hotel industry, police sources said they are unable to provide any more concrete information about the identity of the person.

A spokesperson of M2M ferry service refused to comment on the matter and said, “The police are investigating the case and it is shocking to see a passenger jumping off the ferry.”

One of the M2M ferry officials said, “The vessel started at 8am from Mumbai and the incident happened around 8.45am. We stopped the operations partially till noon to search for the body and later the police took over the search. I am told that the police are still looking for the missing person. This incident is unfortunate and first-of-its-kind for us. We are in discussion with the Maharashtra Maritime Board and the government on the safety measures to be taken.”

He added that Chaudhary was travelling alone and had booked his ticket online. Many passengers on the RoRo were shocked due to the incident. Around five boats consisting of police personnel and local fishermen conducted the rescue operation till evening but failed to locate him. The rescue operation will resume on Tuesday again, said the Raigad police.