RailEnquiry

A 55-year-old retired government official allegedly tried to commit suicide by jumping on Metro tracks at INA station on Saturday afternoon. The victim has been identified as Mohan Jagtyani, a resident of Gautam Nagar and a former employee of the tourism ministry, police said.

    This is the third such incident at Metro stations across Delhi and NCR in the past three

days. On Friday afternoon, a 27-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide by jumping from Kirti Nagar Metro station. A day before, a woman banker had jumped to her death from MG Road Metro Station.

    Saturday’s incident took place around 12.15pm at platform No. 2. Witnesses said as soon as a Rajiv Chowk-bound train entered the platform, Jagtyani jumped on the tracks. The driver applied emergency brakes and Jagtyani was saved. However, he suffered severe head injuries and is under observation at AIIMS. After retirement, Jagtyani was running a travel company in Laxmi Bai Nagar in south Delhi, police said.

    No suicide note was found at the spot and police are waiting for his family members’ statements to find out why he took such a drastic step.

    A Delhi Metro official said they were in the process of installing platform screen doors in the wake of increase in such incidents but added that the plan could take some time to be realized as it was a time-consuming process. The fibre walls open just before the Metro doors open, allowing the passenger to enter directly into compartments. Officials said they were hopeful that a curb in these incidents would be witnessed once these walls were in place.

    “CISF personnel and private security guards are deployed at stations to keep a watch on people and CCTV monitors are scanned regularly, but such incidents take place within a split second, even before our personnel can react,” a Metro official said.

    This year, cops said, there has been a drastic increase in the number of mishaps at Metro stations, with people attempting suicides by either jumping on the tracks or even by jumping off the Metro buildings. Cops said they were planning to increase the number of security personnel at the stations and keep a watch on people walking alone and trying to move to an isolated corner.