‘We searched but did not look inside the pit,’ regrets Delhi biker's family

Kamal Dhyan's brother said he met one of the labourers near the pit around 1.30am and asked him whether anything had happened, and he "clearly said nothing".

Concerned by the lack of communication from Kamal Dhyani, 25, after he said he would reach home within 15 minutes around Thursday midnight, his family went close to the pit on Joginder Singh Marg in Janakpuri looking for him, but did not get any information from people who were aware of the incident, Dhyani’s family alleged.

Meanwhile, HT found during a spot check on Saturday that the spot where the incident took place was still not completely secured. (Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times)

“I was just 10 steps away from the pit. If they had told me, I would have pulled my brother out myself,” said Karan Dhyani, Kamal’s twin brother.

Karan said that he met one of the labourers who was staying near the pit at around 1.30am and asked him whether there had been an accident or a fight. “The labourer clearly said nothing had happened,” said Karan.

Karan said he will regret not look inside the pit, despite reaching the spot. “If I had looked into the pit, my brother would be alive today.”

Kamal’s father Naresh Dhyani said he too passed by the pit thrice, but did not look inside. “If I had seen it even once, my child’s life could have been saved,” he said.

Karan said that they approached the Vikaspuri police station, but police told them to return in the morning and that staff required to track phone location was not present. “If the police had shared the location, we would have found Kamal ourselves,” Karan said, alleging negligence by Delhi Police.

In response, Delhi Police said Karan and friends visited the Vikaspuri and Janakpuri police stations, where the police heard their missing complaint and even sent three personnel with them to search for Kamal in the areas around Janakpuri district park and Possangipur village park.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP - west) Sharad Bhaskar Bhaskar said that the Karan and his friends reached Vikaspuri police station at 1:35 am. There they were shown all medico-legal certificates and accident calls received on Thursday and told that no information about Kamal or his motorcycle had been received.

At 2:50 am, they reported Dhyani’s disappearance at the Janakpuri police station. Sub-inspector Awant promptly took the missing person’s mobile location which was showing near Possangipur Park. Head constable Ramkesh, constable Tejpal, and a home guard jawan Vikas, along with family members, carried out a search in the park as per location and nearby parking spaces and the colony. But despite continuous search for hours together neither Kamal nor his vehicle was located,” added Bhaskar.

Meanwhile, HT found during a spot check on Saturday that the spot where the incident took place was still not completely secured, and people were seen walking around the area where the Delhi Jal Board installed a green net around the boundary and placed four barricades.

However, one of the barricades had fallen and school kids were seen walking around it. “There is no one around here to tell people to walk from the side. For such a huge pit, there needs to be no access point and if there’s one, a person needs to be deployed to tell people to move aside,” said Mahendra Kapur, a resident of a society close to the spot.

Besides, other pits that were spotted a day earlier were found to have been filled up over night.

While three major pits were spotted on the Joginder Singh Marg, a huge mound of rubble and dust was seen in the middle of the road at the intersection towards Possangipur village, without proper barricading. The road had collapsed in July 2023.

Green nets were also installed at another spot near Possangipur village, where the road has been dug up without barricading, green net had been installed.

“Nobody cares about these pits and dug-up roads until now, for a year and a half. It should not take a death for the government to wake up,” said Vinod Kumar, another local.