In a chilling instance of civic negligence, a 25-year-old biker lost his life after falling into an uncovered 15-foot pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for a sewage project in west Delhi's Janakpuri area, police said on Friday. The incident occurred on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday when Kamal Dhyani, an assistant manager at the call centre of a private bank in Rohini, was returning home. The pit, dug just a day earlier, was allegedly inadequately secured, leading to the fatal fall. The family alleged gross police inaction, claiming that despite visiting several police stations throughout the night, no timely search operation was launched -- a delay they believe could have saved his life.
Kamal's body, with his helmet still on, was found lying beside his mud-smeared motorcycle at the bottom of the pit after a woman called the police control room at 8.03 am on Friday. What was supposed to be a day of celebration for the family turned into tragedy as Kamal's parents were preparing to celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary on Friday, but instead were left to perform their son's last rites the same day. A case under section 105 (culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered at the Janakpuri Police Station against the contractor and concerned officials. The Delhi government has suspended three DJB engineers and ordered a probe into the incident.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said that around 1.35 am, Kamal's brother, Karan, along with some friends, approached the Vikaspuri Police Station while searching for him. "They were informed that there is no information on any accident or medico-legal case (MLC) by this name. They were also informed that there is no reporting of his bike number as well," the DCP said. He added that since Kamal had made his last phone call from the District Centre area, the family went to Janakpuri. "At 2.50 am, complainant Karan Dhyani walked into Janakpuri Police Station and reported his brother missing," the DCP said.
Police then traced the missing man's mobile phone location, which showed near Possangipur Park in Janakpuri. "We are investigating all aspects of the incident. This road has been closed for the past few days, and the pit was dug on Thursday. It is possible that the person used to take this route every day for commuting and was unaware of the pit," he said. Karan, who is Kamal's twin brother, told PTI, "I got to know through a call I made to my brother's phone, which was answered by police. They told us they had found his body". "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," he added.
Meanwhile, Water Minister Parvesh Verma said that while certain portions of the road were barricaded, initial observations suggest that safety arrangements around the excavation area were not fully in line with prescribed norms, and movement of two-wheelers was continuing in the vicinity, which raised serious safety concerns. "Preliminary inspection of the site indicated that an excavation pit of approximately six metres in length, four metres in width and around 4.25 metres in depth had been created as part of the ongoing sewer project," Verma said.
Eyewitnesses, local residents and workers alleged that the trench was dug recently and safety arrangements such as barricades, safety nets and adequate lighting were missing around the site. They said movement in the area, especially for children and the elderly, had become difficult due to the road being dug up. Residents and workers also pointed to poor illumination in the area, saying visibility dropped sharply after dark. On January 24, the DJB had issued a detailed safety advisory directing officers to ensure proper barricading at all construction sites, following the death of a software engineer who drowned at an abandoned construction site in neighbouring Noida. Kamal's childhood friend Mayank said he last spoke to him around 12.50 am on Friday. "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.
In a statement, the DJB said preliminary findings suggested that the road where work was underway had been closed with barricades and green mesh, and that the pit at the accident site had also been secured with green mesh. The incident comes weeks after the death of 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, who drowned after his car fell into a waterlogged pit near a construction site in Noida's Sector 150 on the intervening night of January 16 and 17.