Mumbai: Locals in Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai, claim to have seen an unidentified woman jump and parachute from an under-construction high-rise, on the night of February 2. The police have scoured CCTV camera footage, which is said to be unclear. They claim it shows a ‘north-easterner’ walking hurriedly towards a car after the ‘jump’, while dodging questions from the locals. However, the police have not recovered any parachute, nor laid hands on evidence to corroborate these claims. Further, they said that her footprints were found outside the building and they suspect that she is a para jumper.
The police said at 8.40 pm on Saturday, locals saw a parachute in the air and a woman landing minutes later near the 22-storeyed Shree Samartha Heights building on Palm Beach Road. They immediately alerted the police suspecting terrorist activity. Accordingly, a police enquiry was initiated and CCTV camera footage was checked. (According to a conflicting account given by some eyewitnesses, two people had landed with the parachute. Of the two, one of them was a woman and the other a foreigner.)
Navi Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Kumar said he was unable to comment on the incident since the investigation was underway. Sudhakar Pathare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP Zone 1), said, “CCTV footage recovered near the spot is unclear and we are tracking the car in which the duo left. We suspect the woman to be a para jumper as there are many paragliding institutes in the neighbourhood. Since the high-rise is an under-construction building, its terrace could have been used as a jump-off platform.”
No case has been registered at the moment as it is not a crime to jump off from a height with a parachute. However, permission has to be obtained from the concerned authorities to conduct such activities, added DCP Pathare. The police also spoke to paragliding institutes to inquire about the activity.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad, meanwhile, has begun investigating the case and initiated combing operations in Ghansoli. Permission to pull off such adventurous stunts is only granted to members of aviation clubs, which are approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The person who is guiding paragliders or para jumpers is supposed to take prior permission from the DGCA and the local police station.
An aviation expert, Vipul Saxena, said, “The desired height to jump from an aircraft is at least 5,000 feet which can go up to 12,000 feet, depending on the visibility, type of wind and licence of the para jumper. If the woman has jumped off the terrace of a 22-storeyed building, which is approximately 250 feet high, it could have proved fatal. ‘‘She could have been killed.” Saxena added that para jumping needs a lot of training and it can’t be done from a height as low as 250 feet.
