Man climbs TV tower, calls cops, demands media coverage before coming down

Mumbai: A 30-year-old man climbed the Doordarshan Tower in Worli in South Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday, sending police and fire brigade officials into a tizzy.

He was tricked into climbing down a few hours later by the officials by putting up dummy video cameras on the ground and convincing him that media had arrived on the spot as per his demand.

Ajay Paswan (30), resident of neighbouring Thane district, climbed 125 meters to reach the fourth level of the Doordarshan Tower sometime after midnight, a fire brigade official said.

He himself then called the fire brigade and police control rooms from his mobile.

"He is a driver, and lost his job last month. He wanted to tell his grievance to media, and when our team reached the spot, he demanded that reporters of TV channels should come there," the official said.

Efforts to persuade him to come down proved futile.

"Finally, around 7 AM, we placed dummy video cameras on the ground, and told him that media had arrived. Some of our men shouted that they were reporters. This trick worked and he came down," the official added.