GURUGRAM: The revelries had begun early, the countdown to the New Year cheered with gusto. Afterwards, the men had trooped into the drawing room to huddle around an angeethi (coal-fired heater) — away from their wives and children in one of the bedrooms — for the last round of drinks before they hit the road on their way back to their respective homes. That's when tragedy struck, leaving the host, Hitesh
Saini, 32, dead, and family and friends shocked into stupor.
Saini had allegedly fallen off a balcony of his 10th floor rented flat (number 1003) in tower 8 of
Uniworld Garden 1, Sector 47, in the early hours of Monday.
Saini and his wife had planned a party for close friends and some family members, who had all come to their house. Police said preliminary interrogation has revealed Saini had gone to the balcony between 1-1.30am. Around 8-10 people were present in the house at the time. According to police, family members have claimed Saini was drunk and could have fallen off, but they couldn't vouch for it. No one was with Saini when he fell. Apparently, his wife witnessed him fall off and screamed, at which the others rushed downstairs to find him dead.
"No statements have been recorded yet. His wife is in shock. We'll wait for her to recover and have her statement recorded. We're probing the incident from all angles," said ASI Manoj of
Sadar police station, who is investigating the case. No FIR has been registered yet.
By the time the guests had reached downstairs and rushed to Saini's side, a society resident,
Prateek Thakran, had rushed to the spot to find Saini bleeding. A community party hosted by the society RWA was on at the time in the common plaza, with a DJ playing loud music while residents were still finishing their dinner. Apparently, Thankran, who was at the party, had rushed to help after he heard screams followed by a loud thud.
Within minutes, society guards and Saini's guests had reached, and found Thakran trying to control the bleeding using his jacket. "Prateek was about to take Saini to the hospital himself, when his friends arrived in their car and together, they went to Park Hospital," Thakran's brother told TOI.
Police say Saini's body has been kept for postmortem, till his sister arrives from Guwahati. He is survived by his wife and two children, aged 5 and 3.
