GURUGRAM: A 27-year-old student of a private university in Punjab died under mysterious circumstances inside a bathroom of a Gurugram hotel on Sunday. Police suspect that Satdev was suffocated to death after inhaling toxic gas from a geyser installed in the bathroom while taking a bath.
Satdev, an MCom student, was on a vacation along with his Facebook friends since February 14. The group returned from Haridwar via Delhi just a day before. While some of his friends left for Jaipur, he and two others — Pankaj Tanwar and Tanveer — checked into a hotel near Sadar Bazar.
On Sunday morning, Satdev went to take a shower in the bathroom of room number 503. When he did not come out of the bathroom or respond to the repeated knocks on the door even after 20 minutes, his friends called the hotel manager.
In the meantime, his two friends peeped in through the bathroom ventilator and saw Satdev was lying unconscious on the floor of the smoke-filled bathroom. As soon as the manager came, they broke open the door and rushed Satdev to a nearby private hospital and then to the Civil hospital.
Satdev, the youngest son of a retired Army officer, was declared dead on arrival at the Civil hospital. The autopsy report remained inconclusive about the cause of his death, police said.
Pankaj said the group started from Ambala on February 14 in two cars. Based on his complaint, a case was registered against unknown persons under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 304A (causing death by negligence), 34 (common intention) of IPC at City police station. Vedpal, SHO of City police station, said: “Though the report remained inconclusive about the cause of death, prima facie, it seemed that he died due to suffocation. A probe is on. His viscera samples have been preserved for further examination.”
