Kolkata Metro staff thwarts suicide attempt on Diwali

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway staff successfully thwarted a suicide attempt at Kalighat Metro Station on the day of Kali Puja and Diwali, saving the life of a 75-year-old man.

On Thursday, an alert metro staff member noticed suspicious behaviour from a 75-year-old man waiting on the Down platform while monitoring the live CCTV footage around 10.50 am. Metro staff and on-duty Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel rushed to the spot. According to Metro authorities, the elderly individual was safely escorted to a secure area, where he confessed that he had come to the station to commit suicide. Following the incident, the Station Superintendent contacted the Kalighat Police Station. The man was subsequently handed over to police officials after all necessary formalities were completed.

In recent times, there have been several incidents of individuals attempting suicide by jumping in front of oncoming trains in Kolkata Metro’s Blue Line (Dakshineswar-Kavi Subhash). In October alone, there were three such incidents, resulting in two fatalities. Recently, Metro authorities has taken an initiative to curb suicide attempts by installing guardrails on the edges of platforms.

As part of the experimental phase, these guardrails are being installed at the Kalighat Metro station, with plans to install additional guardrails on the platform edges of other Blue Line stations after monitoring the situation and gathering passengers’ feedback.