Air Force officer dies after fall from second-floor flat

A 50-year-old Air Force officer, posted at Fort William in Kolkata, was found dead early Sunday. A defence spokesperson said Wing Commander S V R Moorthy died after falling from the balcony of his second floor flat at the officer’s mess. Sources said the incident is being treated as an “unnatural death”. While police have started a probe, a departmental inquiry has also been ordered by the Air Force.

The defence spokesperson said, “Wing Commander S V R Moorthy, posted at Advance Headquarter, Eastern Air Command in Fort William, died last night after falling from the balcony of his flat. Side by side, the Air Force will carry out a departmental inquiry into the death as per procedure.”

“It was not known at what time he fell, as he was found lying below the balcony of his flat around 5 am today… A post mortem will be carried out to ascertain the cause of the death,” he added. The spokesperson said Moorthy, who hailed from Hyderabad, is survived by wife, a daughter and a son. He had been posted at the Advance HQ six months ago and lived at the officers’ mess alone.

Fort William is the headquarters of the Army’s Eastern Command in Kolkata, within which the Advance Headquarter of Air Force’s Eastern Air Command is situated.