Ahmedabad: A grim sight unfolded over the busy SG Highway on Wednesday morning when the body of a 22-year-old crane operator was found suspended from a crane on the 32nd floor of an under-construction building, drawing the attention of hundreds of commuters passing the site opposite Nirma University.The deceased, identified as Pritam Singh, was a native of Jharkhand and working at the 352-foot-tall Tremont Edlip building. Police said that while the body was found hanging from the crane early Wednesday morning, it was suspected that it remained suspended from late Tuesday night.Workers arriving at the site spotted the body and alerted their colleagues. With the body clearly visible from SG Highway, police reached the spot and regulated traffic around the construction site while efforts were made to bring it down.Personnel from the crane safety department brought the body to the ground around 9.30am, ending the hours-long grim spectacle above the highway.Project engineer Darshal Joshi said he learnt about the incident from a worker who called him in the morning. “I was at home when a worker called me and informed me about it,” he said.Singh’s family indicated that a domestic issue could have been behind his extreme step. “Singh’s brother told us that he was facing some family problem,” Joshi added.Police said that Singh operated crane used for lifting or moving prefabricated concrete structures at the site.Sola police have launched an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Singh’s death and are questioning workers at the site. Police also contacted Singh’s family members to ascertain what triggered the suicide.The body was taken to Sola Civil Hospital for postmortem. It will be handed over to the family after the procedure, police said.The incident also brought an unusual disruption to traffic management on SG Highway, as police had to regulate vehicles while the body remained suspended high above one of Ahmedabad’s tallest buildings a busy highway.
