37-year-old falls to death while cleaning carpet on Gurugram terrace

Police said the 37-year-old allegedly lost balance while cleaning a carpet from the 15th-floor terrace area.

A 37-year-old man died after falling into a shaft from the 15th floor of a residential society in Sector 52 on Sunday morning after allegedly losing balance while cleaning a carpet, police said on Monday.

Investigators said the victim had gone to the terrace after cleaning air-conditioners inside his apartment. (Getty Images)

The deceased, from Jammu and Kashmir, was posted as an assistant manager with Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s Shahdara branch in Delhi and lived with his wife and two minor children in an apartment on the 12th floor of a tower in Sushant Estate, police officials said. They added that a majority of apartments in the society are leased to Jammu and Kashmir Bank for the accommodation of its employees.

According to police, the incident took place around 10am on Sunday. A senior police official said the man was cleaning air-conditioners in his apartment in the morning. “Due to it, the carpet had become dirty, which he had taken on the terrace of the tower to clean,” the officer said.

The officer added that the victim climbed onto the wall of the shaft while shaking the carpet and accidentally lost balance, falling into the shaft from the 15th floor.

Investigators said he fell to the ground and died on the spot. Security guards first reached the spot and informed the police control room. Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said the victim’s wife stated that the death was accidental. “Based on her statement, an inquiry under section 194 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita was carried out at the Sector-53 police station. The body was handed over to the family after an autopsy on Monday,” he added.

Residents said a nearly 90-minute rescue operation was carried out to pull the injured manager out of the 200-foot shaft after a resident climbed down and found him still breathing. He was later declared dead at the hospital.