Indian police are looking out for possible suicides by brokers and investors after the market stumbled heavily Monday, wiping out billions of dollars in share values.

Policemen are told to keep a watch near lakes, canals and all possible places where people in distress could head to kill themselves.

In the 1990s, a stock market meltdown led to several bankrupt brokers and small investors committing suicide across India, some of them drowning in rivers or throwing themselves off high rises.

India's Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd., which had a market value of $657 billion last week after falling 10 percent in the previous two sessions, slid another 10 percent in early trade Monday following sales of stocks held by brokers as security on behalf of their clients.