What the white line and Tagore songs, sermons and penalty threats could not do, a pair of quick-thinking and compassionate hands succeeded in doing on Monday — saving a man from committing suicide on the Metro Railway tracks.

Middle-aged Manik Lal Barui foiled the bid by a 30-year-old passenger to end his life at Esplanade Metro station on Monday afternoon by grabbing him even as he was poised for the leap of death.

Barui, who works at a colour photo laboratory in Bhowanipore, went into Metro Rail’s dubious book of blood on the tracks as the first saviour in an attempted case of suicide. “This was the first time a passenger has managed to stop someone from committing suicide on the tracks,” confirmed a Metro spokesperson.

The Esplanade station was crowded at 12.40 pm on Monday. Barui had travelled from Bhowanipore (Netaji Bhavan station) to Esplanade for some printing work and was returning to his workplace. The Down train, from Dum Dum to Tollygunge (TD 74 Down) was about to enter the station.

“Everyone was waiting for the train. Suddenly, I heard some passengers telling someone not to cross the white line,” recounted Barui, who lives on Purbachal Main Road, in the Kasba police station area. “Then, I noticed a man in his 30s bending dangerously over the edge of the platform.”

As the train rolled in, the man prepared for the fatal leap. “I realised that the man was trying to commit suicide. Other passengers were also shouting,” said Barui. The Kasba resident leapt forward, got a grip on the man’s shirt and dragged him back from the brink.

Metro officials said the driving motorman of the train also saw that the man was about to jump and slammed the emergency brakes. “But had it not been for Barui, it would have been difficult to save him,” the official admitted. “The man was perspiring heavily as he was taken upstairs by the Metro officials,” said Barui. According to officials, the passenger was a resident of north Calcutta and was handed over to Hare Street police station.

His family, however, later told police that he was not attempting suicide. “They told us that he suffers from high blood pressure and his head must have started reeling, causing him to lose his balance,” an official of the Hare Street police station said. “So, we decided not to start a case against him.”

Metro officials admitted that despite several devices being put in place, the number of suicide attempts was not dipping. “It is not possible to man all the stations round the clock to find out whether anyone is trying to commit suicide,” they added.