Builder arrested in Noida pit drowning case; police hunt second promote

Police in Noida have arrested a builder in connection with the death of 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, who drowned after his SUV fell into a water-filled pit dug for construction work in Sector 150, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, Abhay Kumar, is one of the owners of Wishtown Planners Pvt Ltd, police said, adding that efforts are on to trace the other promoter, Manish Kumar.

According to police, the pit—around 20 feet deep—was dug in 2021 in Sector 150 for the construction of a mall’s basement. It has remained filled with water since the following year. After Mehta’s death, an FIR was registered against Wishtown Planners and Lotus Greens on a complaint filed by the victim’s father.

Lotus Greens later told authorities that it had sold the project in 2019–20 to Wishtown Planners and the Grihapravesh Group, with the approval of the Noida Authority.

The arrest comes amid administrative action by the Uttar Pradesh government, which on Monday removed Lokesh M, a 2005-batch IAS officer, from the post of Noida Authority chief executive officer, and ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident.

A day earlier, Lokesh M had dismissed a junior engineer and issued show-cause notices to other officials responsible for road and traffic-related works in Sector 150.

Mehta died in the early hours of Saturday after his Grand Vitara skidded in dense fog while he was taking a turn towards his apartment complex, Tata Eureka Park. Police said there were two barriers near a drain between the road and the pit, which the vehicle either jumped or broke through before plunging into the water.

Investigators said Mehta, who did not know how to swim, managed to remain alive for nearly 90 minutes. His father reached the spot first after receiving a call from him, followed by teams from the police, fire services and the State Disaster Response Force. However, due to thick fog and poor visibility, the vehicle could not be immediately located, and Mehta drowned.

The danger posed by the site had been highlighted earlier. A truck driver, Gurvinder Singh, told NDTV that his vehicle had hit the low barrier near the same spot earlier this month and narrowly avoided falling into the pit.

“There is no signboard or proper barricade. My truck hit the drain wall and overshot. The front tyres were in the air and the middle ones got stuck. I jumped out and landed in neck-deep water,” he said.

Police said further arrests may follow based on the SIT’s findings.