A 45-year-old man who used to trade in old cars and had suffered heavy losses in his business because of the prolonged pandemic is believed to have ended his life by jumping off the Tiljala building where he lived.
Police said they have not found a suicide note but the family has said he was suffering from depression because of financial constraints.
Suraj Agarwal, who was alone at home, was found in a pool of blood in front of the building where he lived early on Saturday. The police said some neighbours heard a loud sound and spotted him on the road.
He was taken to Kolkata National Medical College and Hospital where he was declared dead.
“We have learned from the family that he was into trading of old vehicles. His business had incurred huge losses because of the pandemic and his income had reduced in the last two years, which kept him depressed,” said an officer of Tiljala police station.
His wife and child were not at home when the incident happened.
The body has been sent for post-mortem. An officer said no foul play was found.
Agarwal — like many in the city — apparently could not overcome the stress of the financial losses in his business because of the pandemic in the last two years.
Although most of the pandemic restrictions have been withdrawn, a large number of people in the city and the outskirts have found it difficult to make up for the losses they have incurred during the lockdown period.
Many people lost their jobs and many had to change their business to sustain their living.
A large number of cases of suicide has been reported in the city in the last two years since the outbreak of the pandemic.
About a month ago, a father of two, who had incurred huge losses in his catering business during the pandemic and had to sell lottery tickets to sustain his family, ended his life by hanging himself from a tree near his Bansdroni home.
In October last year, a 51-year-old ended his life in Golf Green after his business floundered because of the pandemic and he was unable to repay an education loan he had taken for his daughter.
In November last year, a father of an 11-year-old committed suicide in his Patuli flat apparently unable to bear the stress of an uncertain income since he lost his job during the lockdown last year.