A drunk labourer was left crying for help as he hung from the third-floor window of a house in Arakere on Bannerghatta Road, South Bengaluru, after the owner tied him to the grille mistaking him for a thief.

High drama prevailed in the early hours of Saturday as Suhant B (28) clung on to the window crying for help, before firemen rescued him.

A police investigation found that Suhant was only trying to escape from his colleagues, with whom he had fought, and had no other intentions.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 5.30 am when Suhant, a native of West Bengal and working in the city, had a fight with his colleagues at a building site. Suhant, an alcoholic, had not reported for work for two weeks and used to frequently fight with others every night.

On Saturday, when the labourers started to assault him, he tried to escape and climbed the three-storied building. Fearing he would fall, he held on to a window and shouted for help.

The house owner woke up from sleep and suspected that Suhant was a thief and tied him to the window with a rope. He later alerted the neighbours who called the police control room. The jurisdictional Puttenahalli police rushed to the spot and called the fire and emergency services personnel. After a half-hour operation, Suhant was brought down and taken into custody.

The police said that Suhant told them he ran for around two kilometres to escape from his colleagues and had no other intentions.

He was subjected to a medical test where doctors said he was mentally disturbed.