Youth falls into lift shaft at hotel, dies

JAIPUR: A 25-year-old youth died after falling into the lift shaft from the fifth floor of a hotel located near C-Scheme area on Saturday morning.

The deceased was identified as Mohammad Jaffar, a resident of Hasanpura locality.

He was carrying out pest-control work on the fifth floor of the hotel when the incident occurred. "The lift was under maintenance, so its door was open. We had also placed a signboard near the lift to warn people. But Jaffar and two others were standing on the edge and looking down. Suddenly, Jaffar lost his balance and fell into the lift shaft," said Sunil Mehta, general manager of the hotel.

The hotel staff rushed Jaffar to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead.

"We were informed about the incident only after Jaffar was declared dead. It is a clear case of hotel staff 's negligence due to which he died," said Kabir Khan, a relative of the deceased.

Jaffar was employed by a pestcontrol firm located on Civil Lines road. The company had sent him to the hotel for spraying pesticides.

He was working overtime to earn extra money for his wedding which was scheduled for December.

Several of his relatives and friends reached the hotel and roughed up the general manager. "Jaffar died due to the negligence of hotel staff," said one of his relatives.

The Ashok Nagar cops called police control room for additional security personnel after Jaffar's relatives created a ruckus inside the hotel and tried to beat up the hotel staff.

"The case is under investigation. We have been told that Jaffar was working on the fifth floor of the hotel when the incident happened," said ACP (Ashok Na gar) Ram Gopal.

The ACP added that a case under section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of IPC would be filed at Ashok Nagar police station. A forensic team was called to examine the lift and its operations.

The relatives alleged that the hotel staff concealed the reason behind Jaffar's death for several hours. "Ideally, we should have been informed immediately after the incident, but we were called by doctors only after Jaffar was declared dead. The hotel staff did not want us to know the reason behind his death," said Hanif, another relative of the deceased.