India, Oct. 2 -- Two days after a Central Secretariat Service (CSS) official plunged from the seventh floor of Shastri Bhawan, a fresh twist has emerged. The 33-year-old, posted with the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment, has apparently now told investigators that the incident was a suicide attempt driven by workplace harassment -- contradicting the police's earlier story that he fell while fleeing a monkey attack.

In a police complaint August 29 seen by HT, the section officer alleged sustained humiliation by senior colleagues, and said that it left him "disturbed".

"I am employed as a section officer in the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment. I have been working in this ministry for the last nine years. Fo...