Body of missing man found in GMDA drain

He was returning home on foot between 9pm and 9.30pm on July 9 when most parts of the district was flooded following 133mmof heavy downpouraccording to the data from India meteorological department officials.

A 22-year-old man who went missing during last week’s heavy rainfall was found to be drowned in an under-construction drain of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) along the Hamilton Court road on Saturday, police said on Wednesday.

A view of the GMDA drain where the man was found. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Police said that the deceased was later identified as Naresh Bhatt, who hailed from Nepal worked as a waiter in a restaurant on MG Road. He came to the city six months back to earn a livelihood and was living in a rented accommodation with his father, Ram Dutt Bhatt in Sushant Lok Phase-I. He had gone missing last Wednesday night and his decomposed body, floating in the drain, was spotted by a commuter at 5pm on Saturday after the rainwater had receded.

He was returning home on foot between 9pm and 9.30pm on July 9 when most parts of the district was flooded following 133mmof heavy downpouraccording to the data from India meteorological department officials.

A senior police officer said that soon after he entered the Hamilton Court road after turning from August Kranti Marg, he drowned after falling in the ditch in Sushant Lok Phase-I just near the metro pillar number 164. “There was no barricading or fencing done to secure the road and separate the stretch of the construction site dug for the drain construction,” the officer said, requesting anonymity.

Investigators said that no one came to know about Bhatt including his father who kept searching and trying to contact him on his phone but failed. The body was handed over to the father after autopsy on Sunday, police said.

Meanwhile, GMDA officials reached the spot on Wednesday with earthmoving machines and workers and covered the part of the construction site with branches and trees. Workers were also spotted shoving bamboos in the water-logged ditch with the motive to check if there’s something more inside. However, nothing was found.

Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said, “On complaint of the deceased’s father, an FIR was registered against erring officials of the civic body and the contractor on Sunday for causing death by negligence. Preliminary autopsy report clearly indicates that Bhatt had drowned. Viscera has been preserved for further forensic investigation. We are investigating the case and will take necessary legal action soon based on the inquiry report provided by the officials,”

A senior GMDA official said that they got to know about the incident on Wednesday after receiving the police notice for the ongoing investigation.

“We will extend all our support to the police in the case. We will fix responsibility of our official or contractor, whosoever will be found for causing death by negligence for further legal action,” he said.