Jet Airways employee commits suicide, jumping off building in Maharashtra's Palghar; Employees take out candle march

A senior technician with beleaguered Jet Airways allegedly committed suicide in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Saturday.

An ailing senior technician working with the beleaguered Jet Airways committed suicide by jumping off his building terrace in in Maharashtra's Palghar district.

New Delhi: An ailing senior technician working with the beleaguered Jet Airways allegedly committed suicide by jumping off his building terrace in Maharashtra's Palghar district. Jet Airways had on April 17 announced a temporary suspension of operations after it failed to receive emergency funds from lenders, leaving about 23,000 employees to face a bleak future. According to police, the technician allegedly committed suicide due to depression as he was suffering from cancer. Shailesh Singh (45) jumped off the terrace of his four-storeyed building in Nalasopara East on Friday afternoon, PTI quoted an official as saying. As per functionaries of Jet Airways Staff and Employees Association, however, Singh was facing "financial constraints" as employees of the grounded airline have not got salaries for a long time. "He was suffering from cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. Prima facie, it seems he was suffering from depression due to the ailment," the police official added. It was the first suicide of an employee since the airline suspended operations, these functionaries claimed. The deceased's son is also working in the operations department of the airline, they added. Singh is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters. An accidental death case has been registered and a probe was underway into the incident, the police official said. Meanwhile, over 200 employees of Jet Airways took out a candlelight march near Jantar Mantar in New Delhi appealing to the lenders of the airline and the Centre to "Save Jet Airways". The employees were carrying placards with slogans such as "Save Jet Airways, Save Our Future" and "We have dependents to feed, please don't let 9W bleed". 9W is the code for Jet Airways like 6E is for IndiGo. Majority of the employees, including engineers, flight crew and cockpit crew, took part in the march wearing the airline's uniform. The wives and children of some of the employees were also present. This is the second time in as many weeks Jet Airways employees gathered at Jantar Mantar after the temporary suspension of the airline's operations on April 17. On April 20, the employees had written to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking their intervention to recover outstanding dues as well as to expedite the process of emergency funds for the airline. The lenders of Jet Airways, which are currently managing the airline, have till date refused to provide funds for restarting the operations. (With inputs from PTI)