was the scene of high drama on Monday as a Pune resident rolled down a safety net installed inside its premises to thwart suicide attempts and began to wave a banner and shout slogans. Other than a

job

, his laundry list of demands included a

minister for the state, 50% reservation for women in Parliament, better working conditions for police, speedy completion of SRA projects, and regulation of nursery school fees.

The intruder, who was coaxed off the net by a contract worker and a police official, identified himself as Laxman Chavan, chief of an organization called Prajasatta Bharat.

The incident took place around 4.15pm when Chavan got on to the net from the second floor. He dangled his legs from gaps between the net and on noticing that a large crowd had gathered, threatened to jump off. Among the crowd was one Rajesh Namdas, a contract worker in Mantralaya. He too got on the net and began to talk to Chavan to calm him down. “Chavan kept telling me that he needed a job and he would leave only if some minister present in Mantralaya promised him one. I told him no ministers were in today. He had a list of other demands too, some social and some personal,” said Namdas.

Mantralaya had installed a safety net in February 2018 after a spate of suicide attempts and the death of Harshal Raote (45) who jumped off the fifth floor.