25-year-old dies after falling into 15-feet-deep pit dug by DJB

It was a long night of panic and fear for Kamal Dhyani’s family on Thursday night and Friday morning as they desperately searched for him. The 25-year-old, a resident of Kailashpuri, had left his office in Rohini the previous night, but he never reached home.

The family continuously kept ringing his mobile phone, but to no avail, as the calls remained unanswered. By midnight, the family was on the streets, retracing every possible route.

The family first went to Kamal’s office, a call centre linked to a private bank in Rohini Sector-10, where his manager said he had already left and should have reached home by then.

From Janakpuri to Sagar Pur, Vikas Puri, and Rohini police stations, they ran from one to another, hearts pounding, praying for any clue of Kamal’s whereabouts. His twin brother Karan was the last person to speak to Kamal, who told him that he would reach home within 15 minutes. “He asked our mother to prepare chapatis, saying he was reaching home soon. When he did not arrive even after half an hour and stopped answering calls, we got worried,” Karan said.

At 2.45 am, Kamal’s brother reached the Janakpuri Police Station, reporting his disappearance. Head Constable Ramkesh immediately joined the search, combing the area alongside the family for over two and a half hours. Despite their efforts, there was no sign of Kamal. Their search ended in the morning when police informed them that Kamal’s body and his motorcycle had been found inside a pit dug up for a sewer pipeline rehabilitation project in Delhi’s Janakpuri area.

Around 8 am, a woman called the police to report a shocking sight. A body lying in a 15-foot-deep pit. Officers rushed to the scene and found Kamal’s bike toppled beside him. Investigations so far indicate that his death was caused by the fall into the open pit, which had been dug for Delhi Jal Board (DJB) work. Kamal has two priests in the family, his father and his elder brother. Karan, his twin, was preparing for the Chartered Accountant examinations, while his mother was a homemaker.

Kamal’s family has questioned how such a dangerous excavation was left unprotected on a busy road. “It could have been an accident, but we cannot rule out foul play. Someone might have pushed him into the pit,” a relative said.

The police said that around 7 am, they received a PCR call regarding a body lying inside a pit at a DJB construction site in Janakpuri. Subsequently, the family of the deceased was informed about the incident. Kamal’s family and friends alleged that police failed to act despite repeated pleas, even as the victim’s phone kept ringing through the night, but the police refuted the claims. A senior police officer said that Naresh and Karan, the young man’s brothers, came to the Janakpuri police station around 2.45 am and reported that Kamal had been missing for hours.

“We attempted to trace his location and found that his last known location was near the district park. Despite conducting a search, he could not be located,” a senior police officer said. The police said they attempted to narrow down the location of the mobile phone tower and conducted search operations during the night, but were unable to trace him.

Police personnel were also sent along with the family to conduct searches, the officer said.

Karan, the deceased’s twin brother, said, “I got to know through a call I made to my brother’s phone, which was answered by the police. They told us they had found his body. When we reached there, we saw his body and his motorcycle lying inside the pit. There were safety measures in place, so I cannot understand how he fell in,” he said.

He said, “We are three brothers, and we are twins. We had been searching for him since last night, roaming around different areas. The police did not help us.  “We went to at least seven to eight police stations, but no one helped us. It was only in the morning that I called his phone, and the police informed us that he had been found dead,” he said.

The deceased’s childhood friend, Mayank, alleged gross negligence by the authorities and said the family had been left shattered by the incident.  “They were twin brothers. Now, when their mother looks at the surviving son’s face, what will she feel? We have lied to her, saying that we have not met him yet and that he is undergoing treatment,” he said.

“This is complete negligence. Even if it was an accident, had they found him in time, we could have taken him to the hospital and saved his life. What will happen to his father, who had been searching for him for over seven hours?” Mayank said.  Mayank said Kamal was last spoken to around 11.30 pm.

“He told us he was near the district centre and would reach home in 15 minutes. When he did not return even after half an hour, we started searching for him. We first went to the Janakpuri police station and requested them to trace the phone, which was still ringing,” Mayank said.  “They gave us a location, but it did not match. We asked them to register a complaint, but they said it could only be done in the morning and that searching at night was not possible. None of the seven police stations we visited registered a complaint,” he alleged.

Mayank added that Kamal, who was returning from his office in Rohini Sector 10, had no enmity with anyone. “He was a very good person who would go straight home from work. I believe someone has killed him and dumped his body in the pit. There should have been proper barricading to stop people from coming this way,” he said. Police, however, have ruled out any foul play and called it an ‘unfortunate incident’, but they are investigating all angles.

The Delhi Police on Friday registered an FIR against a contractor and officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) over the motorcyclist’s death. “We have registered an FIR under Section 105 (culpable homicide) of the BNS at Janakpuri Police Station against the contractor and concerned officials of Delhi Jal Board,” the senior police officer said.

The officer said that an investigation is being carried out on priority and strict legal action will be taken against the guilty as per the law.  The Delhi has ordered a probe into the matter.