Anand aka Dnyaneshwar Salve climbed onto the ledge of the seventh floor and threatened to kill himself either by jumping or stabbing himself with shards of glass.
The Mantralaya was the backdrop for high drama on Friday with a suicide threat by a 28-year-old farmer from Osmanabad district. Anand aka Dnyaneshwar Salve climbed onto the ledge of the seventh floor and threatened to kill himself either by jumping or stabbing himself with shards of glass. He only climbed down after a written assurance from the government that all his demands would be looked into.
It all began at around 4 pm: Salve entered the Mantralaya from the gangway near the energy department and climbed on the parapet on the seventh floor. He went largely unnoticed until he started waving to passers-by. A few visitors and two constables noticed this and rushed to the spot below the windows. Salve then broke a window and brandished the glass piece, saying he would use it to kill himself or jump to his death.
He threw down a piece of paper with his mobile number on it, insisting that he wanted to speak to either agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar or Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
By then, a crowd gathered below and senior officials, including Principal Secretary (Special) of the Home department, IG Brijesh Singh, who heads the State's publicity department, Additional Commissioner of Police R D Shinde, and DCP Zone 1 Manojkumar Sharma rushed to the spot. Many from the crowd started shooting videos of Salve, until the police appealed to them to stop doing that and tried to disperse the crowd.
Soon, a fire brigade arrived and the firemen held a mat and deployed jump sets to catch Salve, in case he jumped or fell. As the senior most officer present, Shinde began negotiating with Salve.
The young farmer demanded an assured price for farm produce, implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations and completion, within 48 hours, of the process for online purchase of farm produce such like soybean and cotton. He also demanded that compensation towards land acquisition for Krishna Marathwadi dam be issued immediately. Lastly, he demanded that no FIR be lodged against him once he comes down.
Meanwhile, state education minister Vinod Tawde reached the spot and began negotiating with Salve.
He was at a function at Sasoon Dock and arrived only after asking the police whether his presence would be helpful and would not intensify the issue.
When asked whether Salve knew who the Minister was, Salve replied, "Tumhala kon olkhat nahi saaheb. (Who doesn't recgonise you)?" Salve asked for written assurance that his demands would be met, to which Tawde complied. He sent up the note and made the corrections Salve suggested.
At the end of the 90-minute drama, Salve decided to climb down but not before insisting that TV cameras and the media record this. At around 5.30 pm, the government heaved a sigh of relief as Salve got down safely.
"We have not booked the youth," said Manoj Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, "but have warned him not indulge in such activities. He was frustrated by the difficulties faced by farmers and wanted to reach the government. We have informed his family about the incident."
RD Shinde,Additional Commissioner of Police (Protection), said, "We will review the vulnerable points (at the Mantralaya) and ensure that such incidents do not take place in future."
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