Firemen rescue 25-year-old man trapped on balcony amid ‘attempt to steal’ from locked apartment in Surat

He then “ran up the staircase and entered a third-floor flat whose main door was open”. The flat belonged to Naresh Kakadiya, who was away at the time, leaving his wife Smita alone. On hearing shouts from outside, Smita went to check and “found a stranger” inside the house. When she screamed for help, the suspect allegedly fled to the balcony and, in a bid to escape, climbed down the sanitary pipes to the second-floor balcony — only to find that flat locked as the occupants were away.

By then, a crowd had gathered, and the police were alerted. The Varachha police reached the spot and found the man trapped on the balcony. Unable to break open the door, they sought help from the state Fire Department.

A fire team led by officer Sudhir Gadhvi reached the building with five personnel. “When we arrived, we discovered the person trapped was actually a thief,” Gadhvi said. “Two of our firemen, Dewang Gadhvi and Rajesh Dabhi, descended with ropes to the second floor. When the thief saw them, he tried to resist, but they quickly overpowered him and pulled him safely up to the third floor. He was then handed over to the Varachha police, who were at the scene.”

The police identified the accused as Vikash Nishad, a resident of the Varachha slums and originally from Bihar. Varachha police inspector R B Gojiya said, “We are checking his background.”