Calcutta, Aug. 13: Police have identified the man who jumped into the Hooghly from Vidyasagar Setu yesterday as small-time businessman Gopal Sadhukha.

Financial difficulties in running in his business coupled with mounting debts apparently forced the 38-year-old resident of Golabari Road in Howrah to end his life.

Although the body has not been traced yet, the registration number of the motorcycle he left behind on the bridge helped identify Sadhukha. His son came to Wattgunge police station today and identified the Hero Honda bike.

The police made the information public 24 hours after the second Hooghly bridge recorded its first suicide in its 13-year existence.

Around 4.15 pm, Sadhukha rode half-way up the bridge and parked it on the side. He then took off his sunglasses, kept in on the seat of the bike and removed his shoes. After crossing the barriers to the edge of the bridge ? the wall of cables holding up the structure and then the railing ? he leapt to his death, the police said.

Some people driving past him informed policemen deployed on the spot where the bridge slopes towards Calcutta.

“His son also identified his father’s glasses and shoes,” said N. Ramesh Babu, deputy commissioner of police, south division. “However, the 24-hour effort to fish out Sadhukha’s body proved futile. A search is going on and river traffic police personnel are working hard to trace the body.”

According to an officer of Wattgunge police station, Sadhukha’s son had told the police that his father was a trader of leather goods and clothes. “He had borrowed money from moneylenders in Howrah and found it difficult to pay them back. This could be the reason behind the suicide,” the officer said.

A team of Howrah police officials visited Sadhukha’s residence this morning. They spoke to his wife and other family members for over an hour but could not find out for certain what drove him to death.

“Our effort is on to know the reason behind the incident. It seems the exact cause will emerge within a day or two,” said Kalyan Banerjee, the additional superintendent of police (town), Howrah.

The police said Sadhukha had left his home as usual yesterday. “Before leaving, he had his lunch and told his family members that he was going to Calcutta for some business-related matter,” said an officer of Wattgunge police station.