JOIN USHow did Narasimha go to the terrace of VV Towers?
The 22nd floor of the Tower houses a fire station. It is a restricted area and general public are not allowed to go to the floor. People have access only till the 21st floor which houses the principal secretary’s office.
There are three ways in the building to get to the terrace and usually all of them are closed. In a strange turn of events, all the three routes were left open on Thursday as there was a fire safety inspection in the building. Many senior officers had witnessed the fire safety inspection at the building on Thursday.
The building has two staircases from the ground to the terrace on either side, which are used as emergency fire exit routes. These are maintained jointly by the fire force and the PWD. M S Biradar, Assistant Engineer, PWD, the building in-charge, told Deccan Herald that they had kept open the two emergency fire exit staircases on the instructions of the fire department as they were conducting the fire safety inspection. “We opened the gates at around 10:30 am. However, Narasimha hasn’t taken this route to the terrace, as the firemen saw no one go up the staircases,” he added.
That leaves with the only other route – an iron ladder next to the lift machine room on the 22nd floor. The lift takes people only till the 21st floor. When Deccan Herald visited the spot an hour after Narasimha committed suicide, there was nobody to guard the staircase.
Anybody can take the steps to the 22nd floor, which is a restricted area. There is another staircase that would take people to the lift control machine room, beside which is an iron ladder that would take people to the terrace.
A gate restricting entry to the 22nd floor terrace was found closed when this reporter visited the spot.
Normally, the lift operators use the gate to gain access to the lift control machine room. Narasimha may have used the gate to get to the terrace and someone may have closed it after the suicide came to light, sources say.