Metro tractor dumps earth on sleeping men

Two men were found dead under a heap of loose earth on the central verge of a road in Nangloi on Thursday morning.

Two men were found dead under a heap of loose earth on the central verge of a road in Nangloi on Thursday morning.

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Senior police officers said a vehicle belonging to Punj Lloyd, contractors working for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), dumped loose earth on the pavement under which two men were found dead. However, the company has a different story to tell.

“When the tractor dumped loose earth, no one was sleeping on the median. It is for the police to investigate and find the truth,” said a Punj Lloyd spokesperson.

A DMRC official said the contractor was developing a green patch under the Metro viaduct on the Inderlok-Mundka line and loose earth was brought to fill the central verge and plant saplings.

The police said a few local residents who saw legs sticking out of the heap of loose earth made a PCR call at 6:30 a.m. “The police discovered that two men were buried underneath. The identities of the victims are still not known. No external injuries were found on their bodies,” said a senior police officer.

Eyewitnesses said a blanket was found over the victims’ bodies. The police have registered a case of negligence against unknown people.

The DMRC, meanwhile, insisted that no one was sleeping on the median when the tractor brought loose earth. “The driver told this to our officials. We are now taking him to the police to get his statement recorded,” DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal said.

This is the third incident of negligence involving a Metro contractor since the structural collapse on Vikas Marg in East Delhi on October 19. Two people had died and several others were injured when a launcher and pre-fabricated cement segments, collectively weighing over 800 tonnes, collapsed.