In a shocking incident, a 35-year-old deputy sarpanch of a village died after jumping from the second floor of a building over a false alarm raised about the advent of police in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police confirmed on Thursday.
According to the additional superintendent of police Prakash Gaikwad, the incident took place on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday when a group of villagers from Kasa had gathered to play cards in a building next to a Ganpati pandal.
The official also said that around 3 am, the watchman of the building raised an alarm regarding the arrival of police which triggered panic and several of them jumped off the second floor.
Deputy sarpanch Raju Jagdev sustained severe wounds in his attempt to flee and subsequently died, while others who were injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital, he said.
A case of accidental death has been registered by the Kasa police, the official said.
This was a case of false alarm, as the watchman mistook two persons approaching the building for policemen, when in fact the police did not come there at all, he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
