Noida techie drowning: SIT visits accident site, meets kin and top officers

On Tuesday, it visited the Noida authority’s Sector 6 office and met officials from police, administration and State Disaster Response Force

A three-member special investigation team (SIT) formed to probe the circumstances that led to the death of a 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta who drowned in a water-filled excavation pit in Sector 150 collected facts on Tuesday, meeting the victim’s father and officials and also visiting the site of the accident.

During the proceedings, Yuvraj’s father gave a detailed account of the events and was sent home under police protection. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Headed by additional director general (Meerut zone) Bhanu Bhaskar, with Meerut divisional commissioner Bhanu Chandra Goswami and Public Works Department (Meerut) chief engineer Ajay Verma as members, the panel was formed on Monday and was asked to submit its report to chief minister Yogi Adityanath within five days.

On Tuesday, it visited the Noida authority’s Sector 6 office and met officials from police, administration and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), who were all summoned individually to submit documents and explain their respective roles in connection with the incident.

It also met the victim’s father, Raj Kumar Mehta. Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Medha Roopam, Noida Authority additional CEO Krishna Karunesh and commissioner of police Laxmi Singh were also present at the fact-finding meeting.

Speaking to HT, Bhaskar said, “We have started the process of phase I of probe in which we have spoken to all authorities to understand where the fault lies. After collecting all the details related to the incident we will give our final report to the state government. We have met with the father of the deceased and expressed our condolences for this extremely sad incident in which we lost a young man. Our sympathies are with the family.”

During the proceedings, Yuvraj’s father gave a detailed account of the events and was sent home under police protection. Officials of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were then questioned on the rescue operation and the sequence of events that followed the accident. The meeting continued for nearly three hours.

“We will look into all aspects — whose lapse led to the accident and what preventive measures could have avoided it,” said Bhaskar, adding, “The first round of the probe involved meetings and document examination, while the second phase focused on the spot inspection. Statements of all stakeholders would be recorded in the next stage.”

At the location of the incident, officials were questioned about the layout of the plot, the role of the developer and the absence of basic road safety measures such as barricades or reflectors at the turn. The team also reviewed the overall safety arrangements in the area before leaving for Meerut later in the evening.

Sources said statements of officials who were present at the site on the night of the incident, as well as senior department heads, will be recorded over the coming days.

Mehta 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 eyewitness accounts, Mehta 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, Mehta remained trapped, calling for help as his vehicle slowly sank. By the time he could be pulled out, he had died.