On Thursday, Sushila Devi (72) was supposed to take the elevator from the eighth floor to the second, where her husband was waiting for her, in Tower 24 of Paras Tierea apartments in Noida’s Sector 137. But due to an alleged malfunction, the lift shot up to the 25th floor, its chain and wire snapping in the process. Devi was pulled out through the exhaust fan hole, which two staff members, including a lift man, entered in a bid to rescue her, according to the FIR in the case filed by the woman’s son Diwesh Kumar. The woman, who had been trapped inside the lift for more than half an hour, was found unconscious and badly injured and was pronounced dead at hospital. Gautam Budh Nagar police Friday registered FIR against eight individuals, including facility management company, lift manufacturer company, and office bearers of Apartment Owners’ Association (AOA) in this regard. The FIR said, “My mother left our flat around 4.15 pm.When my father, Devi Dayal Prasad, reached the second floor after 15 minutes, he did not find her. he went to the ground floor and spoke to the guards, who told him they had not seen her anywhere. my wife and I went to the guards again and asked them to show the camera (CCTV). They expressed their inability to show the footage.” The couple then searched for Devi in various places like the commercial area, park area, basements 1 and 2 but could not find her. “I again asked the guard to check the lift, but he could not help. Then I asked the lift man to open the lobby lift. He confirmed that the lift is on the 25th floor. Under normal circumstances, the lift should stop at the 24th floor. We took the stairs and went up to the 25th floor.,” Kumar said in the FIR. “The lift man entered the lift after removing the exhaust fan. One of his associates also entered the same way. They found my mother unconscious. She had received injuries on her head and hands. She was pulled out through the exhaust fan opening,” the FIR stated. Kumar said he found that the chain of the lift had broken in the basement while the cable had snapped. A case under charges of negligent conduct with respect to machinery and causing death by negligence has been registered against the directors and facility managers of the management company, lift manufacturer ThyssenKrupp, and the president, vice-president, general secretary, and treasurer of Paras Tierea Apartment Owners’ Association (PTAOA) at Sector 142 police station. Residents claimed the Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) of the management company had expired. “We filed a complaint against the AOA with the Noida Authority and DM Office. It is taking decisions unilaterally without calling general body meetings,” claimed Dr Vivek Tomar, a resident. AOA office bearers were unavailable for comment. Representatives of ThyssenKrupp said they would not be able to comment as the matter is under investigation.
