Former Indian diplomat to Pakistan, Vipin Handa, died in lift crash in New Delhi on Thursday morning at the Research and Analysis headquarters on Lodhi Road.

According to sources, Handa was being extricated from a stuck lift, when the lift suddenly collapsed.

Handa was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.

Pakistan had recently expelled Handa, who was Counsellor in the Indian high commission in Islamabad, in a tit-for-tat action.

Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pandey has ordered an inquiry into the episode, but senior officials are skeptical of its outcome.

Vikram Sood, the sitting secretary to RAW and who retires on March 31, had also been caught in the lift recently.