Techie death in Noida: Kin allege murder, police say suicide

On February 3, the software engineer based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, visited a woman friend at a housing society in Noida. He was later found dead after allegedly falling from the 20th floor of the building. The deceased was a native of Sonepat in Haryana

Days after police said that an engineer allegedly died by suicide by jumping off the balcony of a high-rise in Sector 168, his family has alleged that he was killed. They also accused the police of being lax with the probe and met Gautam Budh Nagar police chief Laxmi Singh on February 14, seeking her intervention in the matter.

According to the police, the man allegedly died by suicide after jumping off the 20th floor balcony of a high rise in Noida Sector 168. (HT ARCHIVE)

“The commissioner of police has assured us of an inquiry into the matter,” said the father.

When asked, the police chief said, “I have instructed the DCP concerned to look into the matter and register a case if any evidence (of murder) is found. An unbiased inquiry into the matter will be done.”

On February 3, the software engineer based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, visited a woman friend at a housing society in Noida. He was later found dead after allegedly falling from the 20th floor of the building. The deceased was a native of Sonepat in Haryana, police said.

According to the police, the two were visited by another woman that day. That woman left the apartment around 5pm, police said, adding that around 9pm, the man allegedly jumped off the balcony, said police.

According to the father of the deceased, the two women were involved in his son’s death but the police did not register an FIR in the matter.

“Our son was happy with his life. He was a scholar with a very sharp mind. There was no reason for him to die by suicide. The police should investigate why this second woman visited the two at the flat. We believe that the two women conspired to kill our son by feeding him some intoxicant. We also believe that the second woman never left the flat and was still there when he fell to his death,” the father said.

Refuting the family’s allegations, Noida deputy commissioner of police Harish Chander said, “We have CCTV footage showing that the woman friend was downstairs speaking to a security guard when he fell from above. During inquiry, she told police that she had left the apartment to inform the security guard that her “friend was talking about dying by suicide”.

He added that the exit of the second woman from the flat was also recorded by CCTV cameras of the society around 5pm.

The father also raised questions about why the woman chose to walk down 20 floors to talk to the security guard. “The police said they have CCTV footage of the staircase, where the woman can be seen at the time of the incident. But why did she use the staircase from the 20th floor?” he said.

When asked, the SHO said, “The woman explained that as she was high at the time, and did not want to take the lift.”

Chander said an FIR has not been registered in the case yet. “Since we have proof that the man was alone at the flat at the time of the incident and his woman friend was downstairs, there is no proof to register a murder case. However, we have initiated an inquiry into the matter again,” he said.