A 22-year-old youth named Sambhav Khandelwal, son of a prominent paper merchant and newspaper proprietor in Kanpur, died under critical circumstances after plummeting from the sixth floor of the Rudra Greens apartment complex located in Singhpur. The incident occurred during his visit to the residence of a female friend. Shortly after arriving at the premises, he was found lying critically injured on the ground floor. He was rushed to a nearby medical facility without delay, where attending doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. The tragedy has cast a pall of grief over his family, who have rejected the initial perception of an accidental fall and raised serious allegations of physical assault and murder.
Timeline of Departure and the Tragic Hospital Call
Vishal Khandelwal, a resident of RK Nagar in the Kaushalpuri area of Kanpur, manages a large-scale commercial paper enterprise under the name Guru Kripa Paper firm, alongside owning and editing a daily Hindi newspaper. His immediate family comprises his wife Preeti and son Sambhav, while his daughter Kavya is already married. Sambhav, aged 22, was actively involved in his father's commercial ventures and participated in daily business operations. According to his relatives, Sambhav drove his personal vehicle out of the residence around 1:30 PM on 15 November, stating that he was leaving to meet a friend.
Roughly ninety minutes later, around 3:00 PM, the family received a distressing phone call originating from Sambhav's own mobile device. The caller informed them that Sambhav had fallen from an apartment balcony at the Rudra Greens complex and had been transported in critical condition to Paras Hospital. Family members hurried to the medical facility, only to learn that Sambhav had already succumbed to his severe trauma. Official inquiries indicated that Sambhav had arrived at Tower B-2 of the residential complex to visit a female friend residing on the sixth floor. The young woman lives there with her mother and younger brother. At the time the incident transpired, the woman's maternal uncle was also present inside the premises. Bithoor police officials promptly initiated an inquiry to establish the precise sequence of events within the flat.
The Defense Account of Oil Residue and a Lost Ball
In response to police inquiries, the maternal uncle of the female friend presented a comprehensive statement characterizing the fatality as a tragic domestic mishap. He conveyed that Sambhav shared an established friendship with his niece and had visited their apartment on multiple earlier occasions. The young woman had returned home from Mumbai around the festival of Diwali, following which Sambhav's visits to the home had grown more frequent. According to the uncle's account, only he, his niece, and her younger brother were inside the residence on the afternoon of 15 November, as other family members were away attending to work assignments.
The uncle maintained that the group was discussing plans to step out together for coffee. During this interval, Sambhav and the young boy began tossing a ball inside the living area. During play, the ball bounced past the sliding door toward the open balcony. Sambhav rushed toward the balcony edge to retrieve it. The uncle claimed that oil residue remaining from traditional earthen lamps lit during Diwali was present on the exterior tiles. Sambhav allegedly stepped on this slick surface, lost his footing, and went over the edge before anyone could intervene. The uncle insisted that they promptly transported him to the hospital, but his injuries proved fatal. Investigating officers are presently cross-verifying this explanation against forensic data.
Physical Injuries and Deleted Messages Fuel Foul Play Allegations
Sambhav's grieving family strongly disputes the accidental slip narrative, pointing out distinct physical injuries that they claim do not correspond to an unassisted fall. Relatives observed distinct abrasion marks on his right leg, accompanied by visible trauma to his waist, back, arms, and skull. The family asserted that these marks strongly suggest physical confrontation and beatings prior to the fall, leading them to allege that he was deliberately pushed over the railing.
A critical focus of the dispute concerns digital communication records between Sambhav and the female acquaintance. Family members claimed that chat records and messaging logs on the devices appeared to have been deleted. Specifically, they noted that the woman had dispatched a final communication to Sambhav at approximately 2:00 PM containing the explicit phrase 'Don't come.' Despite this direct instruction, Sambhav reached the residential tower shortly thereafter. Relatives have urged investigators to uncover why he proceeded to the apartment despite being told to stay away, and what transpired during those brief minutes that resulted in his death.
Forensic Examination and Police Custody
Following alerts regarding the incident, Bithoor police teams along with Dilip Singh, the Assistant Commissioner of Police for Kalyanpur, and specialized forensic technicians arrived at the scene. The investigation team executed a meticulous examination of the sixth-floor apartment, the balcony perimeter, safety railing height, and the ground surface where Sambhav struck the pavement. Crucial physical parameters, potential friction marks, and impact trajectories were documented for analysis. Authorities subsequently detained four individuals present in the apartment, including the female friend, her mother, her younger brother, and the maternal uncle, to conduct structured questioning.
DCP West SM Qasim Abidi confirmed that comprehensive forensic and physical evidence has been secured from the site. The senior officer noted the presence of two fundamentally divergent explanations, with the resident family asserting an accidental slip on oil residue and the victim's family insisting on deliberate assault and forced ejection. The body was dispatched for a thorough post-mortem evaluation. Law enforcement authorities emphasized that subsequent legal actions, including potential formal charges, will hinge upon the autopsy findings, laboratory analysis of recovered materials, and the digital reconstruction of the deleted telephone data.
