SOS call at 12:15 am, ‘2-hour' struggle: Techie's final moments before he drowned in Noida ditch

A routine drive turned fatal for techie Yuvraj Mehta when his car plunged into a water-filled pit in Noida. Here is a detailed account of how his rescue failed.

What began as a routine late-night drive home for 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta ended in a prolonged, desperate fight for survival that unfolded over nearly two hours on a fog-shrouded road in Sector 150, Noida.

Yuvraj was stranded for nearly two hours before his body was recovered, prompting protests from residents.

Accounts pieced together from family members, eyewitnesses, police, and officials reveal a sequence marked by panic calls, failed rescue attempts, and allegations of systemic neglect.

A postmortem report has revealed that the victim suffered asphyxia due to ante-mortem drowning, followed by cardiac arrest, leading to his death.

Here's what happened

Yuvraj was returning to his home at Tata Eureka Park in Sector 150 from his Gurugram office late on the night of January 16, navigating through dense winter fog when his Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara veered off the road and plunged into a deep, waterlogged excavation pit on a vacant plot.

The pit, dug for the basement of an under-construction building, was estimated by police and officials to be over 20 feet deep, with some assessments placing it at nearly 50 feet, and was filled with rainwater without visible barricades, warning signs, or reflective markers, according to details cited in the FIR.

Moments after the crash, Yuvraj managed to climb out of the sinking vehicle and onto its roof. From there, he made a frantic phone call to his father, Raj Kumar Mehta, telling him that his car had fallen into a drain-like pit and asking him to come immediately, news agency PTI reported.

Raj Kumar rushed to the spot, repeatedly calling his son as he searched in near-zero visibility. During one of the calls, Yuvraj switched on his mobile phone’s torch, creating a faint beam of light from the water that helped those on the road roughly locate him, the father recalled, as per another report by ANI.

Family said techie struggled for two hours

According to the family, Yuvraj remained alive in the water for close to two hours, crying out for help as more people gathered at the site. His father alleged that while some bystanders watched, others recorded videos on their phones, and no trained divers were deployed during the crucial window.

“My son was struggling to save himself. My son was crying out for help, asking people to help him, but most of the crowd was just watching,” Raj Kumar Mehta said, alleging that the officials present lacked the capability and equipment to rescue him and calling the episode a case of administrative negligence, the report noted.

An eyewitness account from Moninder, a delivery agent who reached the site around 1:45 am, adds to the picture of chaos and hesitation. He said Yuvraj was initially visible standing on the roof of his car, signalling for help with his phone’s flashlight.

Seeing rescue personnel struggle and hesitate, Moninder said he tied a rope around his waist and entered the icy water himself, searching for nearly 30 minutes despite poor visibility and submerged iron rods at the construction site, according to PTI.

He later claimed he was told that if assistance had reached even ten minutes earlier, the young engineer’s life might have been saved. Moninder also pointed out that the same pit had witnessed an earlier accident in which locals rescued a truck driver using ropes and a ladder.

Police officials, however, have firmly rejected allegations of inaction. Additional Commissioner of Police Rajeev Narayan Mishra described the incident as “very tragic” and said police and fire department teams initiated rescue efforts immediately after receiving information around 12:15 am.

According to police, ladders, ropes, a crane, searchlights and a makeshift boat were deployed, but the operation was severely hampered by dense fog, darkness, and the depth of the water, with visibility described as “near zero,” the report stated.

HT.com earlier reported that assistant commissioner of police Hemant Upadhyay said entering the pit was considered extremely risky due to the depth, cold water, and submerged hazards, raising fears of further casualties among rescuers.

Despite these efforts, Yuvraj remained stranded on the car roof for nearly 90 minutes before the vehicle finally sank completely. His body was recovered hours later after an extended search operation involving the fire department, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and local police.

In the aftermath, anger spread among residents of Sector 150, who staged protests and candle marches, alleging that repeated warnings about the hazardous site had been ignored and that basic safety measures were never put in place.

Acting on the family’s complaint, police registered an FIR against two real estate companies linked to the plot, invoking sections related to culpable homicide, death by negligence, and acts endangering life under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).