Court issues NBW against absconded builder in 27-year-old techie’s death case

Lotus Greens claimed that, in 2019-2020, the plot had been transferred to Abhay Kumar, promoter of Wiztown, and Lotus Greens had no role in it.

A city court on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the promoter/director of Lotus Greens in connection with the death of 27-year-old Yuvraj Mehra who drowned in water-filled pit in Noida’s sector 150, police said.

The spot where Yuvraj Mehta fell into the pit to death. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Rajeev Narayan Mishra, additional commissioner of police (law and order), Gautam Budh Nagar, told HT that police had requested that the court issue the warrant when the promoter/director, Nirmal Kumar, could not be located despite extensive investigation, including electronic surveillance.

“If Nirmal fails to appear before the court, we will move to the next step of attaching his properties,” said Mishra.

Lotus Greens Private Ltd was made a co-accused in the case along with another real estate firm, MZ Wiztown, on Sunday on charges of culpable homicide, causing death by negligence and act endangering life or personal safety. Three days later, on Wednesday, police registered a second FIR against five persons, including Nirmal, on environmental charges.

Mishra added, “Nirmal holds a share in the Sector 150 plot where the techie drowned. Apart from this, the investigation is underway to locate other suspects related to the case.”

Lotus Greens did not respond to HT’s requests for comment.

On Sunday, in a press statement, Lotus Greens claimed that, in 2019-2020, the plot had been transferred to Abhay Kumar, promoter of Wiztown, and Lotus Greens had no role in it. Wiztown has also denied negligence.

The additional CP Mishra said, “The case has been registered against them after their involvement in the plot was found.”

The FIR filed on Wednesday also mentioned that Nirmal held 30% share in the plot.

Police on Thursday also sealed off the Noida office of Lotus Greens and arrested Ravi Bansal and Sachin Karanwal, office bearers of the firm. They were sent to judicial custody till January 27, police added. The office of MZ Wiztown was also sealed.

Yuvraj, a software engineer, lived at Tata Eureka in Noida’s Sector 150. He died in the early hours of Saturday after his car plunged into a deep, waterlogged pit on a vacant plot in Sector 150. Yuvraj was returning home from his office in Gurugram when he reportedly lost control of his vehicle in dense fog, broke through a low boundary at a sharp 90-degree turn, and fell into the pit.

According to investigators and eyewitnesses, Yuvraj managed to climb onto the roof of his partially submerged car and called his father for help. Police, firefighters, and teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached the site, but rescue efforts failed to save him. For nearly 90 minutes, Yuvraj remained trapped, calling for help as his vehicle slowly sank. By the time he was pulled out, he had died.