A 45-year-old hospital manager died after his motorcycle careened off a secluded stretch of the Faridabad-Gautam Budh Nagar road that abruptly gave way to a deep unmarked ditch late on Sunday night, police said.
Police said the victim, Atul Kumar Joshi, survived the crash that shattered his helmet, dragged his body into a sitting position against the ditch’s dirt wall, but wasn’t able to call for help. He and the motorcycle were spotted by local villagers on Monday morning.
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Police said he was travelling from his Faridabad residence to Noida on Sunday night and appeared to have taken the route towards Manjhawali bridge built over the Yamuna in Faridabad. It is being speculated that an online map may have given this route as an option.
The road project, which seeks to connect Faridabad and Noida via Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was completed on the Haryana side. But just about 50 metres after crossing the state border, the road abruptly disappears and leads to open fields littered with deep ditches.
{{/usCountry}}The road project, which seeks to connect Faridabad and Noida via Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, was completed on the Haryana side. But just about 50 metres after crossing the state border, the road abruptly disappears and leads to open fields littered with deep ditches.
{{/usCountry}}Inspector Ranbir Singh, station house officer of Tigaon police station in Faridabad, said Joshi possibly couldn’t see in time that there was no road ahead.
“Villagers saw the mangled motorcycle and Joshi in the ditch and alerted the Tigaon police station in Faridabad on Monday morning,” Ranbir said.
Soon enough, the Faridabad police realised that Joshi was 45-50 metres away from the Haryana border. The UP Police were alerted to complete the formalities.
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Manoj Singh, SHO of Dankaur police station in Gautam Buddha Nagar, said it appeared that Joshi was alive after the crash.
“His helmet was shattered, indicating he sustained a head injury. He had even got up to sit inside the ditch but due to the internal injuries, bleeding and the absence of medical attention on time at the secluded spot, he succumbed,” he said.
The Danakaur SHO said his body was handed over to the family after an autopsy.
An inquiry under Section 194 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita was carried out on the family’s complaint. They have not alleged foul play.
The police officer said they would try to ascertain why Joshi took this route and whether he had used an online map.
A Faridabad district administration official said that the road project was completed on the Haryana side several years back but no construction work has taken place in Uttar Pradesh.
“The spot where the road ends at the border is less than three kilometres away from the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Yamuna Expressway. The road project was aimed at providing better connectivity between two states,” he said.