Indian police are on the hunt for a suspected Italian base jumper, who leapt off a power transmission tower on February 3.

The man and a woman were spotted walking on the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi in Northern India.

The man then climbed a 220 kV high-altitude tower. A few local men tried to stop him cautioning against the danger, but the man ignored them and kept climbing. The woman cleared the ground and asked the crowd to move away.

The man jumped from the top of the transmission tower, unfurling a parachute and landed safely. The incident was filmed by the woman and a few local individuals.

The police rushed to the spot on hearing about the commotion but the couple had slipped away by then.

“It was windy and his parachute could have got entangled in the overhead wires. It was a high-risk stunt that could have also cost the man his life,” said a police officer.

“He also risked the lives of others and endangered public property. We will book him,” added the officer.