JOIN USA retired Indian Air Force officer accidentally slipped from the elevator on the fifth floor of his apartment and died following multiple head injuries here on Monday morning.
The victim, Group Captain Motilal Neluri (62), was a resident of I Block, flat no 751, 7th Floor at Jal Vayu Towers, NGEF Layout in Sadananad Nagar, according to the Byappanahalli police. As a routine, he was in the habit of taking his pet along for morning walks, buying milk and returning to his flat.
Around 8:20 am, Motilal, after his morning walk, took the lift to reach his flat. But to his bad luck, the lift got stuck between the fifth and sixth floors. Immediately, he called up from the elevator cubicle and alerted the security.
The guard, who attended the call, rushed for help and managed to open the lift door using the master key. While he was doing so, the cubicle jerked and went down a few inches. It got stuck in such a way that the ex-serviceman could neither sneak out to the sixth floor nor jump to the fifth floor.
At this juncture, the guard told Motilal to stay calm saying he would get the cubicle to the fifth floor so he could easily extricate himself. But Motilal told him to relax and collect the milk packet and his pet, saying he would wriggle out of the situation.
The pet came out safe. But Motilal, in an attempt to jump to the fifth floor stretched his legs and while taking a grip on the edge of the wall — on his toes — left his hands and leapt towards the floor only to plunge headlong. With multiple head injuries, a profusely bleeding Motilal was shifted to Command Hospital on the Old Airport Road. After a few hours, he was declared dead. The police have ruled out suicide and believe it was an accidental fall.