ISLAMABAD: A man attempted suicide on Saturday because of the country’s deteriorating economy and demanded to be made either prime minister or finance minister.

Police said the man, who they said was mentally challenged and a native of Bhalwal, also asked to speak to the prime minister.

The man was spotted in the afternoon, on a tower in Blue Area carrying a Pakistani flag. The shopkeepers in Blue Area attempted to bring him down, but the man threatened to jump off the tower.

Police, capital administration officials, fire department and paramedics reached the area on receiving information.

Talks conducted with the man to bring him down were unsuccessful, police said, adding that he asked to speak to the prime minister about the country’s economic condition.

SP Saad Aziz then contacted an artist, Shafat Ali, to mimic the prime minister.

The man was provided with a mobile phone on which Mr Ali called him, pretending to be the prime minister. Mr Ali spoke to the man for a few minutes, police said.

They discussed the economy and Mr Ali asked him to descend from the tower and said he would send the minister of state for interior to speak to him further.

After their conversation, the man descended from the top of the tower after more than two hours. Shopkeepers, the business centre’s traders’ union and onlookers gathered at the site.

The man was taken into police custody and shifted to the Kohsar police station.

They said the police are trying to find his family and establish whether he was living in Rawalpindi or Islamabad, or if he was visiting from his hometown. Police said it has not yet been decided whether to register a case of attempted suicide yet, and a directive has been sought from senior officers.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2018