Mumbai: Tourist car driver jumps from Bandra Worli sea link; search on | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: A 43-year-old tourist car driver jumped off the Bandra-Worli sea link in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday and remained missing despite an all-day search by police, fire brigade and coast guard. Coast guard and navy boats, along with a naval helicopter, were also sent to locate him in the water.
The search operation will be resumed on Friday morning, said officials.
Worli police identified the man as Jogeshwari (E) resident Vinay Kumar Yadav from the driving licence found inside the white Innova. “We have learnt that he was to pick up a passenger from south Mumbai early on Thursday,” said a police officer, adding that they are collecting details about Vinay to know why he took the drastic step.
Police said Vinay entered the sea link from the Worli side, stopped the SUV and jumped into the sea around 3.45am, which was caught on CCTV cameras. “Suraj Chavan, a security guard with the sea link management, first saw the incident and alerted Worli police, who sent a team to the spot,” said the police officer. Fire brigade and coast guard joined the search, scanning the sea through the day for Vinay.
Police said they tracked down the SUV owner, Powai resident Shiv Shankar Yadav, from the registration number. They also informed Vinay’s wife about the incident.
This was the second such incident on the cable-stayed bridge in nearly two months.
Earlier, on July 31, Tikam Laxmandas Makhija (56), a garment businessman from Khar, jumped into the Arabian Sea from Bandra-Worli sea link. His body was found the next day near Shivaji Park.
Police said Makhija, who was suffering from depression, had left home without his phone or wallet. He drove towards Worli on the sea link, stopped his vehicle and jumped into the sea around 5.30am, which was caught on CCTV cameras.
Police said that he had suffered a head injury in a bike accident three months ago that needed surgery. Makhija was a diabetic and on sleep medication.