A real estate developer was taken into police custody, days after a Noida techie’s car plunged into a water-filled excavation pit on a vacant plot in Sector 150 of Greater Noida.
27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta drowned after his vehicle fell into the pit, with the incident spurring outrage over civic lapses and the delay in rescue efforts.
The builder, identified as Abhay Kumar, was arrested by the Knowledge Park Police on the basis of manual intelligence and confidential information, according to Police Commissionerate, Gautam Buddh Nagar.
The excavation pit was allegedly dug for a building’s basement, and was estimated to be over 20 feet deep, with some assessments suggesting it was nearly 50 feet deep. It was filled with rainwater, and did not have barricades around it, with the area also lacking any warning signs or reflective markers.
The incident took place on Saturday, when the victim was returning home from his office in Gurgaon. Due to dense fog, Mehta allegedly lost control of his vehicle, which smashed through a low boundary at a sharp 90-degree turn and fell into the pit, according to an earlier HT report.
After the vehicle plunged into the pit, Mehta climbed onto the roof of his partially submerged car and called his father for help. Mehta pleaded to be rescued for around 90 minutes, but by the time he was pulled out, he had died.
The victim’s autopsy report has revealed that he suffered asphyxia due to ante-mortem drowning, followed by cardiac arrest, which led to his death.
An FIR had been registered against two real estate developers in the wake of the incident, on charges of alleged negligence, including the absence of barricades, reflectors and mandatory safety measures.