Patna: A 24-year-old man is missing after reportedly jumping into the Ganga from the Gandhi Setu bridge on Friday afternoon, prompting a search operation by disaster response teams in the river.
According to police, the incident took place near pillar number 44 of the bridge, under the jurisdiction of Alamganj police station. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), stationed at Gaighat, deployed divers and boats to search the river but had not recovered the man by the time of reporting.
Police said the man has been identified as Azad Kumar, also known as Guddu, the younger son of a local contractor from Diwan Tola in Ratnakar area of Hajipur. His mobile phone was recovered from the bridge, which helped authorities trace and inform his family.
Officials said preliminary investigation suggests that before jumping, the man had made video calls to friends and relatives during which he reportedly said he was “being tortured”. Investigators are examining the circumstances leading up to the incident, including the possibility of a personal relationship angle, though no conclusion has been reached.
A relative, Sumit Raj, a railway employee, told police that Azad had spoken to him shortly before the incident and repeated the same claim. He added that Azad had left for a library around 9am on Friday and remained in contact with family and friends through video calls between midday and early afternoon. The jump is believed to have taken place around 2.30pm.
Family members said Azad had completed his graduation and had cleared the preliminary examination for the post of sub-inspector. He was also preparing for recruitment exams for an assistant education officer post.
SDRF officials said efforts to locate the man would continue, and a large fishing net would be deployed in the river on Saturday morning in coordination with the district administration in Vaishali.
