A weekend conference at a five-star hotel in Khandala turned into a nightmare for a large group of techies from a Mumbai firm when they lost a colleague in a freak swimming pool accident. The deceased was identified as Jaiprakash Shankaran Nair (31), a resident of the Mumbai suburb of Kandivli. About 70 IT professionals from Vikhroli-based Net Magic had arrived at Hotel Dukes Retreat on Friday for the conference.
Pool of sorrow: Hotel Dukes Retreat, where the techie drowned.
On Saturday evening, five of them decided to go for a swim in the hotel pool. Nair was among them. The police and the hotel staff said lifeguards had asked the group of five to not swim in the pool because it was late, past 7.30 pm. "The IT employees had come for a conference. Around 7.45 pm, they wanted to swim, but we don't allow swimming in the evening. Even after denying them permission, five of them went for a swim. There was a lifeguard present at the time," said a hotel employee.
"A little after 7.45 pm, Nair was not to be seen in the water, so his friends and our lifeguard jumped in. They got him out and he was breathing. We rushed him to the hospital, but he died. "The newly married IT manager's friends said he had told his colleagues he was a good swimmer. Eyewitnesses said Nair was fished out of the deep end of the pool, struggling for breath. "Nair was taken to a private hospital for initial treatment and died while being moved to Sanjivan Hosiptal," said PSI Baban Hedgye, who is investigating the case.
The Lonavla police sent the body for post-mortem. "Nair's friends have admitted that they were denied permission to swim but did not listen to the hotel authorities," said A Acharya, an officer from the Lonavla police station. "The post-mortem revealed that Nair died due to drowning. There is nothing fishy in the case. His body was sent home with his family on Sunday afternoon." Nair's body, which was handed over to his father Shankaran, reached his Kandivali residence by Sunday evening. Nair is survived by his parents, wife and a sister.
