Telangana HC staffer dies after getting stuck in flooded cellar

HYDERABAD: A 54-year-old Telangana High Court employee died late on Friday evening, after getting stuck in the inundated cellar of his apartment complex in Musheerabad.
The incident took place around 7.30 pm when, B Raj Kumar, took the elevator to reach the parking lot in cellar of Gayatri Sai Sree Enclave soon after heavy rain lashed the city.
Raj Kumar is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. The high court employee lost his mother 11 days ago.
His body was found near the lift around 12.30 am by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s (GHMC) disaster response team. Though prima facie it appears to be a case of drowning, police said they are waiting for the post mortem examination report to ascertain the actual cause of death. A case under section 174 (suspicious death causing death) of the Crpc has been registered.
“We suspect that water gushed into the lift as soon as Raj Kumar reached the cellar. Since a part of the lift was open, we believe he was able to open it but couldn’t make it out of the cellar,” said an official part of the rescue operation, adding: “Whether there was a short circuit in the lift or not is yet to be confirmed.” Officials said the cellar of the four-storey building, which has residential and commercial properties had water up to six feet when they reached the spot.
According to his family members, Raj Kumar, who was a court master in the high court (personal assistant to a judge) and lived on the second floor of the apartment, had stepped out to go to the supermarket. “But when he didn’t return even after an hour, we got worried and tried contacting him. But he had left his phone at home and only taken his motorcycle key,” said Santosh a relative of the deceased. He added: “We then called all the relatives, but everyone said that Raj Kumar isn’t with them. That’s when we started searching for him on the main road and lodged a complaint with the police. Suddenly, the thought of Raj drowning in the cellar stuck our mind and we called authorities.”
Blaming civic authorities for failing to check the inundation, Raj Kumar’s daughter, G Vaishnavi said her father died due to GHMC’s negligence. “Also, when we are paying maintenance fee, the association of the building should have ensured that the lift is being maintained properly; there should have been a security guard too,” said the grieving daughter.
GHMC officials, however, said the government cannot be blamed for everything. “The incident happened inside the apartment. More than 15 cm of rainfall was recorded in the city and monsoon teams are working round the clock. We can’t be blamed for everything,” said S Srinivas Reddy, zonal commissioner, GHMC.