Man electrocuted to death after jumping on third rail of Shyambazar Metro

Hundreds of commuters were inconvenienced as the Metro services towards Dum Dum station were disrupted for around half an hour after a man committed suicide by jumping on the third rail at Shyambazar Metro Station this evening.

Police said a 55-year-old man Panchanan Pal had been loitering on the platform for quite some time. The victim was a resident of Nimchand Mitra Street at Baranagar and he had attempted suicide twice earlier in his home. 

After speaking to the people, who witnessed the incident, investigating officers came to know that the man was actually waiting for a train to approach as he had planned to jump in front of it to commit suicide. Tired of waiting for the train to come, he jumped on to the tracks and his body touched the third rail which is a high voltage line. The incident took place at 5.55 p.m. The person got electrocuted and died immediately.

Policemen posted at the Metro station contacted Shyampukur Police station. Policemen from the local police station rushed to the spot and removed the victim’s body. They took it to the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where doctors confirmed his death. The body has been sent for an autopsy.

The incident led to harassment of commuters in the evening rush hours when people were returning after office. Hundreds of people were found waiting on platforms to get a Dum Dum bound train. But it took around half an hour to restore the service.

There had been announcement at the stations using public addressing system to aware people about the incident that led to the disruption in the service. Tickets to passengers for Dum Dum station were also not been given for a certain point of time to check gathering on the platforms.

People returning home after the day’s work turned impatient and many were found cursing the long standing problem of disruption in the service due to suicide.

Often people face inconvenience as Metro services get affected when a person commits suicide either by jumping in front of a train or on the third rail. An officer of the Kolkata Police said that cases of committing suicide in front of an approaching train are more than jumping on the third rail.

Steps were taken to check such incidents by deploying policemen on the platforms. They keep watch on movement of commuters and restrict them from moving much ahead towards the edge of the platform when there is no train. But today the victim suddenly took a leap and jumped on to the third rail.