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Police hunt for contractor who kept lid on Delhi biker's death for hours
An officer aware of the investigation, who did not wish to be named, said that they are trying to trace the contractor, who is currently absconding.
New Delhi: The death of 25-year-old banking telecaller Kamal Dhyani, who died after falling into a 15 to 20-foot deep pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), has laid bare a sequence of events where at least five people either spotted him in the pit or knew about the incident, but failed to help or even inform the police for over eight hours after the incident.
While the sub-contractor, identified as Rajesh Kumar Prajapati,47, was arrested on Saturday and booked for culpable homicide, the main contractor and the labourer, identified by his single name Yogesh, were absconding.
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An officer aware of the investigation, who did not wish to be named, said that they are trying to trace the contractor, who is currently absconding. “The main contractor did not physically visit the spot. But even he did not inform the police or other agencies about the mishap. Except the guard, the other three men were directly responsible for averting the mishap. However, their negligence in terms of not securing the four sides of the deep pit and keeping the area properly lit and guarded resulted in the tragic death of the motorcyclist.”
A passerby, a security guard in the vicinity, a labourer, the subcontractor for the project, and the main contractor were all made aware of the incident immediately after the passerby saw the biker falling into the pit around 12.15am. However, the police was only apprised around 8.03am, painting a picture of apathy.
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Police teams were sent to Yogesh’s home town in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah and on the trail of the main contractor, Himanshu Gupta, who was out of Delhi until Saturday evening, said joint commissioner of police (western range) Jatin Narwal, adding that the role of the security guard, Deshraj, is also being probed.
A resident of Kailashpuri in Palam Colony, Dhyani was returning home on his TVS Apache motorcycle from Rohini, where he worked as an assistant manager at a call centre run by HDFC Bank, when he fell into the pit around 12.15am on Friday. His body, along with his motorcycle, remained inside the pit until 8am.
Police said that the guard, despite being informed by the car driver, failed to call the police. “However, the guard did not inform the police. He went to the makeshift tent and informed the labourer, Yogesh, about the incident. He and Yogesh looked inside the pit and saw a motorcycle with its headlight on and a man lying there. The guard returned to his place of duty,” a second investigator said, citing video footage obtained from a CCTV camera installed near the spot.
Deputy commissioner of police (west) Sharad Bhaskar said that instead of informing the police, Yogesh contacted his employer, Rajesh Kumar Prajapati, on phone at 12.22am, and around 20 minutes later, Prajapati arrived at the spot in his car from his house in Tri Nagar.
“Prajapati also saw the victim and his motorcycle lying inside the pit. However, neither he nor Yogesh informed the police about the incident. While Prajapati returned home, Yogesh fled the area,” Bhaskar said.
Instead of calling for medical help, Prajapati allegedly informed the main contractor, Himanshu Gupta, about the incident on phone and the same has been confirmed through the analysis of the call records of the two people, a third officer said, asking not to be named. “We will question Gupta and Yogesh why they did not inform the police despite being informed about the mishap,” the officer added.
As investigators reconstructed the sequence of events, they came across another CCTV footage that added another troubling layer to the case. The footage reportedly showed the labourer moving the barricades after the accident. The two barricades were initially placed far apart, leaving a wide gap at an active excavation site, the police said. “We may charge him and others for tampering with the evidence,” the second officer said.
