Woman jumps off Atal Setu, still untraceable
The family found a note written by her, which said that she was going to the Atal Setu to commit suicide.
NAVI MUMBAI: The first case of attempted suicide on the Atal Setu was reported on Monday after a 43-year-old woman was reported to have jumped off the bridge at around 2.14 pm. The taxi driver alerted the Navi Mumbai police but the woman’s identity could be ascertained only after the Bhoiwada police got in touch with the Nhava Sheva police late on Monday evening.
According to senior police inspector Subhash Borate from Bhoiwada police station, the woman had been suffering from depression for the last eight years. “She left her home on Monday morning, saying she had work outside,” he said. “Since she was not reachable, in the afternoon her father filed a missing person’s complaint. Later, the family found a note written by her, which said that she was going to the Atal Setu to die by suicide. She also clearly stated that the taxi driver in whose vehicle she would be travelling should not be harassed.”
READ | First accident reported on Mumbai's Atal Setu, passengers unhurt
After getting the note, the police started checking CCTV footage of the area and found that the woman had boarded a taxi from Dadar at around 1.45 pm. By the time the Bhoiwada police approached the Nhava Sheva police, the latter were already looking for the woman. The coastal security police, Nhava Sheva police, Bhoiwada police and Motor Transport police from Mumbai have been searching for her since then with no results.
“We are conducting a rescue operation from our side and the Mumbai police is doing it from their side. We have alerted the Vashi, Uran and NRI coastal police, as all these police stations have a creek in their jurisdiction,” said senior police inspector Rajendra Kote from Nhava Sheva police station, adding, “Barricading work was going on but she jumped from the 14-km point on the bridge where the work is yet to be completed. The bridge is 21 km long, and the first 10.4 km, starting from Sewri, are under the jurisdiction of Mumbai police. The rest comes under the Nhava Sheva and Uran police.”
READ | Atal Setu: All you need to know about India's longest sea bridge
On Saturday, a woman who was trying to take a selfie on the bridge had accidentally fallen into the sea. “She was going to Pune with her family, and fell while trying to click a selfie,” said Kote. “Since the barricading work was going on, there was a boat below the bridge. The people in it saw the woman falling and immediately rescued her. There was no foul play in the incident and the family left after her statement was recorded.”
The search operation in the attempted suicide case would continue on Wednesday as well, said the police.