Noida techie death: Developer arrested; SIT begins probe, report due in five days

Noida (PTI): Police on Tuesday arrested the director of a real estate firm in connection with the death of a 27-year-old software engineer, whose car had plunged into a water-filled pit at a construction site in Noida's Sector 150, even as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) visited the site as it began its probe into the incident, officials said.

"Abhay Kumar, the director of MZ Wiztown Planners and one of the accused in the case, has been arrested from Sector 150," Additional Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Hemant Upadhyay said.

Police had filed an FIR on culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other charges against two real estate developers -- MZ Wiztown Planners and Lotus Greens -- on a complaint by victim Yuvraj Mehta's father, Raj Kumar Mehta, who alleged negligence by local authorities and sought accountability.

There was no official word from the police on the action against the other accused firm.

Yuvraj Mehta died on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday after his car skidded in dense fog, broke a drain boundary and fell into a deep, waterlogged pit dug for the basement of an under-construction commercial complex near a drain. According to eyewitnesses, he had frantically pleaded for help for two hours, but the police personnel and rescue workers who had reached the site were unable to save him.

His body was recovered after a prolonged search operation involving the fire department, police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). On Tuesday, the NDRF team used boats and divers to locate his car in the water.

Pradeep Chaubey, CFO of Gautam Buddha Nagar, said, "The location of the car has been traced at about 3 pm, and efforts are on to pull it out." Beginning its probe, the Special Investigation Team headed by Additional Director General (ADG), Meerut Zone, Bhanu Bhaskar, visited the accident site on Tuesday and held meetings with officials at the Noida Authority to examine the circumstances leading to the incident.

The three-member SIT comprises ADG Bhanu Bhaskar, Meerut Divisional Commissioner Bhanu Chandra Goswami and Public Works Department Chief Engineer Ajay Verma, and it has been asked to submit its report within five days.

"We have been given five days to examine all aspects and provide an answer within that time frame, determining whose fault it was or what more we could have done to prevent this accident," Bhaskar told reporters after the meeting.

"We need to examine the civic authority, police and emergency authority and will give our opinion within five days. After follow-up meetings, we will submit our opinion to the government," he added, noting that the SIT would also speak to the victim's father.

Noida District Magistrate Medha Roopam, who accompanied the SIT, evaded mediapersons as they attempted to ask her questions.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Monday evening ordered the constitution of the SIT, amid public outrage and allegations of negligence by officials and developers.

The government also removed senior IAS officer Lokesh M as the CEO of Noida Authority, placing him on the "waitlist".

The FIR was lodged under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 106 (causing death by negligence) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said.

Investigations are continuing, they added.

The incident has sparked allegations of negligence, inadequate safety arrangements and delays in rescue efforts, with the victim's father saying he had reached the spot along with police, and other rescue personnel were also there, but could not save him.

"If expert divers could have gone in, then maybe my son would have been saved. Yuvraj kept crying for help as the car drowned," the victim's father had told reporters.

Raising the issue of the techie's death, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said India's urban collapse is not about lack of money, technology, or solutions but about the lack of accountability.

In a post on X, Gandhi said, "Roads kill, bridges kill, fires kill, water kills, pollution kills, corruption kills, indifference kills."

"India's urban collapse isn't about lack of money, technology, or solutions. It's about lack of accountability.TINA m: There Is No Accountability," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

Gandhi shared a video carrying the remarks of an eyewitness, who said timely action could have saved the man, and that of the victim's father, who lamented that there were several people there, with some of them making videos, but they did not act to save his son.