3 min readVadodaraUpdated: Aug 20, 2026 06:15 AM IST
What began as a private late-night rendezvous has now turned into a police investigation into the events that unfolded after a sudden power cut allegedly led to a fall inside the room. (AI generated image)
They met on Grindr, and checked into a Vadodara hotel at 3 am. By 7 am, one of the men was dead.
What began as a private late-night rendezvous has now turned into a police investigation into the events that unfolded after a sudden power cut allegedly led to a fall inside the room.
The two men, both hailing from Vadodara and belonging to different faiths, had been in touch through WhatsApp after meeting on the dating app Grindr a few months back.
They arrived at Hotel Vintage Inn in Dandia Bazaar around 3 am on Wednesday (August 19). This was their second in-person meeting since they got to know each other. They were assigned Room 304 in the hotel.
At some point after the men entered the room, the power supply in the room went off, police said. In the darkness, one of the men allegedly attempted to go towards the washroom, stumbled and fell, and suffered injuries to his head and his forehead.
Since their room was without electricity, the men reportedly approached the hotel staff and requested a solution. Apparently because the hotel staff were unable to find a fix to get back power, they moved the occupants to another room – Number 302.
Around 7 am, one of the men rushed up to the hotel reception in a panic, and asked the staff to urgently call an ambulance. Something had happened to his companion, the man said.
The hotel staff immediately called both the 108 emergency service and the police. The ambulance team and police entered the room, and found the other man – the one who had sustained the alleged injury hours ago – dead. His body was sent to Sayaji Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Police have said they have so far found no visible injury marks on the body, nor any signs of a struggle.
“There are no injury marks or signs of a struggle on the body of the other (dead) youth. We are questioning (the surviving man) to establish exactly what happened. Blood samples of the deceased have also been collected to determine whether he was under the influence of any intoxicant. The body has been sent for an autopsy,” Raopura Police Inspector D J Patel told The Indian Express.
Police have registered a case of accidental death and begun a probe into the circumstances surrounding the alleged fall, the power outage, the room change and the events that may have occurred from the time the couple arrived at the hotel to the time the emergency call was made around 7 am.
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Patel added that the further course of action will be determined as per the findings of the post mortem report.
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
