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Ahoy, man atop!

A distraught youth, demanding President K R Narayanan's intervention to get his 'abducted' wife released, remained atop the microwave tower at the New Delhi railway station for the third day.

The police and fire brigade officials made futile attempts to get Ashraf Jamal Khan, a resident of Varanasi, to come down. Though the fire personnel withdrew after 48 hours, the police are still camping on the site.

Khan's only companion atop was his mobile phone through which he was making relentless efforts to talk to the President.

He claimed his wife has been abducted by her family. And if she is not rescued, he threatened, he would jump to death.

This is Khan's second stint atop the tower. He had adopted the same posture to rescue his wife in November. Then, assurances from Phoolan Devi's husband Ummed Singh had brought him to earth.

Khan claimed he had spoken to his wife on January 14 on phone. If he jumps, he said, she would also commit suicide.

The youth said he had spent Rs 50,000 in the Capital looking for help. He knocked on all possible doors, but none had opened.

UNI