It has been 16 hours since Flying Officer (Retd) Balwant Singh learned that his only son, Navjot Singh (52), had passed away.“If they had taken him to any nearby hospital — the Army hospital, AIIMS, any of them — and he had survived, we would have forgiven them. But they took him there (Nulife in GTB Nagar). Whatever their reason was, I have lost my son,” says 80-year-old Balwant, struggling to catch his breath.On Sunday, Navjot, a senior Finance Ministry official, and his wife, Sandeep Kaur, visited the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara. They then had lunch at Karnataka Bhavan and were heading home. Around 1.15 pm, near the Delhi Cantonment Metro station, a BMW M5 rammed into their Triumph bike. Navjot was killed, and Sandeep sustained injuries.Police said the woman behind the wheel, Gaganpreet Makkar, took them to a hospital in GTB Nagar — nearly 17 km from the site. She was arrested on Monday.The family lives in a two-bedroom home on the first floor of building — P-155 — in the middle-class locality of Hari Nagar in West Delhi. The two bedrooms sit on either side of a central hall — one filled with men discussing formalities for getting the body; the other filled with women consoling his grieving mother.In the hall, Balwant sits on a wooden chair, flanked by two of Navjot’s colleagues, trying to process the six hours that changed his life forever.At 11 am on Sunday, he watched Navjot leave the house. By 5 pm, he saw his body. His grandson, Navnoor, broke the news to him.Story continues below this adBalwant has watched his son grow up in that very house, alongside his younger daughter, Puneet, who now lives in the United States and is expected to reach Delhi tomorrow.“He was such a decent man. Brilliantly sharp as a kid, always mild-mannered and disciplined. He always looked like an Army veteran’s son,” says Gagandeep Singh, a neighbour.Navjot joined the government after clearing the SSC-CGL exam in 1995. Over the years, he rose through the ranks to become Deputy Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs under the Finance Ministry. He was due for a promotion in two months.“He had been training for his new role at IIM Lucknow for the past six weeks. A relative of ours came from Australia during that time, but he refused to meet on weekdays — he didn’t want to miss even a single day of training. On the weekend, he flew down to Delhi to meet them. We showed them around the city — Humayun’s Tomb, India Gate,” recalls Balwant.Story continues below this adNavjot had represented the government at various international conferences. Last year, his family says, he went to Madrid, Spain, for a World Bank conference. He also frequently visited the United States and other European countries as part of government delegations.“I had such dreams for him… from the day he was born at the Agra Army hospital. He was only 52… still climbing. Where would he have reached if not for this? He didn’t deserve this,” Balwant says, his voice heavy with grief.Navnoor, meanwhile, turns 22 on Tuesday, September 16 — a day that was meant for celebration. He got the call from Nulife Hospital on Sunday, just as he was leaving a friend’s house after a sleepover.“He had just completed his studies and started a job on August 1. What was to be a celebration has now ended with him telling the media about his father’s death,” says Bitty Singh, Navjot’s sister-in-law.Story continues below this adGoing to Bangla Sahib was a weekend ritual for Navjot and Sandeep. “He loved his bikes, you know. They would take the Triumph out on weekends and visit the gurdwara. They were very well known there. He was a very composed driver… aware of speed limits,” she adds.Sandeep has since been shifted to Venkateshwar Hospital in Dwarka Sector 12, where she is recovering. She received stitches on her head, family members say.Navjot’s postmortem will be conducted on Tuesday at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, police say. His body will then be handed over to the family, which will perform his last rites at 2 pm the same day.