Suspects focused on hiding accident: Police tells court in Janakpuri pit death case

Police claimed that instead of attempting to save Dhyani’s life after discovering him in the pit, Yogesh focused on concealing his own negligence.

Delhi Police on Thursday informed a city court they suspect that the persons accused of causing the death of 25-year-old Kamal Dhyani, who fell into an unsecured excavation pit in west Delhi’s Janakpuri, would have filled the pit with the victim’s body inside to cover up the incident had they possessed construction machinery at the time.

The court has reserved its order on the bail application for Friday. (HT PHOTO)

The submission was made before judicial magistrate Harjot Singh Aujla at the Dwarka courts in response to a bail plea filed by labourer Yogesh, one of the accused in the case. The court has reserved its order on the bail application for Friday.

The police response, seen by HT, stated, “There is strong apprehension that the accused (Yogesh) along with co-accused could have backfilled the pit having the body if they had any machine or instrument available with them at the wee hours.”

Police claimed that instead of attempting to save Dhyani’s life after discovering him in the pit, Yogesh focused on concealing his own negligence.

“They put barricades and curtains to block the road just 6 minutes after the incident... They even put more curtains around the pit bearing the body of the deceased so that it could not be traced by anyone,” the response added.

Dhyani fell into the 4.5-foot-deep pit around 12:15am on February 6 during his commute home from a Rohini call centre. The probe in the case, according to the police, revealed that he lay there for at least eight hours while at least six individuals knew of the incident but chose not to inform police.

Sub-contractor Rajesh Kumar Prajapati and labourer Yogesh were arrested for refusing to help recover Dhyani’s body despite being aware of the incident. According to police, Yogesh informed Prajapati about the incident at around 12.22am and the two then tried to hide their mistake about not placing barricades around the site.

Himanshu and Kavish Gupta, directors of the company hired by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), were reportedly informed about the incident an hour later by Prajapati but allegedly ignored the message and fled. The anticipatory bail pleas of the Gupta brothers have been rejected by both the trial court and Delhi High Court.

The police response to the court further stated that that if granted bail, Yogesh may tamper with crucial documents yet to be recovered or abscond from the city. Police had earlier told the court that no precautionary measures such as caution boards or barricades, were placed at the excavation site by the contractor or the labourer – factors that allegedly resulted in Dhyani falling into the pit and subsequently dying.

Yogesh’s counsel argued no vicarious liability could be affixed on him as he was merely an employee with fixed working hours, and claimed he was only checking safety measures as directed by employers when spotted near the pit after the incident.