Noida techie death: Two more builders arrested
The Noida police on Thursday arrested two more builders in connection with its probe into the death of a software engineer who drowned after his vehicle crashed into a waterlogged trench in Sector 150. Those arrested have been identified as Ravi Bansal and Sachin Karnwal. Meanwhile Noida police has lodged another FIR against five builders of Lotus Greens Construction Pvt Ltd and MZ Wiztown Planners Pvt Ltd for alleged violations of environmental and pollution laws in connection with a large waterlogged pit here.Yuvraj Mehta (27), who worked in Gurugram, was returning home in Sector 150 here when his car fell into a water-filled pit near a construction site on the intervening night of January 16-17. He died after frantically pleading for help for around two hours.
On Wednesday, a fresh case was registered at the Knowledge Park police station against Abhay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Manish Kumar, Anchal Bohra and Nirmal Kumar. Noida techie death: Two more builders arrested The case was registered under Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Sections 24 and 43 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and Sections 290, 270 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), according to the FIR.
In the complaint, local sub-inspector Regal Kumar said that during patrolling on January 20, a "very large and wide pit" was found at plot number SC-02/A3 in Sector 150, close to a public road. The pit appeared to have been excavated using heavy machinery and had remained filled with water for several years, it said.
The FIR noted that the pit is very deep and that prolonged stagnation of water has led to severe pollution, with the water turning muddy. It added that rainwater had carried garbage into the pit, contributing to air pollution and posing risks to public health and safety.
Police further noted that no fencing, warning signs or other safety measures were found around the pit. Leaving such a large, open and waterlogged pit near a public road for a long period posed a serious threat to human life and increased the risk of major accidents, the FIR stated, terming it a public nuisance.
The FIR also mentioned that the construction sites were located close to the pit, indicating violations of construction management norms. Locals have also complained that the foul smell from the stagnant water makes breathing difficult when the wind blows towards residential areas.
During the inquiry, police found that the plot was purchased from the Noida Authority in 2014 by Lotus Greens Construction Pvt Ltd and was later acquired in 2020 by Wiztown. The FIR also stated that Lotus Greens Construction continues to hold a share in the property.
"The FIR has been registered against five builders; further investigation is on," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Hemant Upadhyay said.
The police had registered the first FIR in the case on January 18 based on the complaint of the deceased software engineer Yuvraj Mehta's father against MZ Wiztown Planners and Lotus Greens under provisions related to negligence, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and endangering life. The police on Tuesday arrested Abhay Kumar, the director of MZ Wiztown Planners, who was remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday, officials said.
In a related development, the National Green Tribunal has sought a response from the Noida Authority and others, flagging alleged lapses in stormwater management and prolonged waterlogging that led to the drowning of a software engineer in a trench in Noida.
The green body was hearing the matter in which it had taken suo moto cognisance of a newspaper report on the death of Yuvraj Mehta, who drowned after his vehicle fell into a waterlogged trench at a commercial site in Sector 150.
The bench also noted that the stormwater management plan chalked out by Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department in 2015 remained on paper despite multiple rounds of surveys and site inspections.
A video has emerged showing 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Singh's final desperate struggle after his car plunged into an 80-foot-deep, water-filled abandoned construction pit near his Sector 62 apartment in Noida.
The footage shows Yuvraj sitting atop his car and continuously flashing his mobile phone's torch light for nearly two hours from inside the storm water drain, as the SOS signals went unnoticed.
