A local court has granted bail to two employees of a real estate firm in connection with the death of a 27-year-old software engineer who drowned in Noida earlier this month. The Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Surajpur granted bail on Friday to Ravi Bansal and Sachin Karanwal, employees of Lotus Greens Construction Private Limited. They were arrested in connection with the death of Yuvraj Mehta, who drowned in a waterlogged pit near a construction site in Sector 150.
Yuvraj Mehta's death occurred earlier in January when his car veered off the road and plunged into a water-filled pit. The incident took place in Sector 150, Greater Noida, amidst dense fog, which significantly reduced visibility. Mehta's family alleged that a partially broken boundary wall contributed to the accident. Following the incident, authorities registered a First Information Report (FIR) against real estate companies MZ Wiztown Planners Private Limited and Lotus Greens Construction Private Limited.
During the court hearing, Bansal and Karanwal maintained their innocence, asserting that they had been falsely implicated in the case. They sought release on bail, arguing they had not committed any offense.
Prior to the bail grant, the court had extended the judicial custody of three accused individuals, including Bansal and Karanwal, and had expressed concerns regarding the ongoing investigation. The court questioned the investigating officer about the focus on junior employees while senior management and directors of the developer firms had not been thoroughly examined. The investigating officer was directed to submit a detailed status report outlining the investigation and the roles attributed to each accused.
Amidst the investigation, MZ Wiztown Planners stated that the Noida Authority had directed them to remove barricades displaying advertisements in July 2021, and had also imposed a penalty for alleged illegal advertising. The company also claimed to have warned the Noida Authority about safety concerns, pointing to a letter from March 2022 that highlighted the collapse of sewer and drain lines and the risk of accidents.
The police had earlier arrested Abhay Kumar, director of MZ Wiztown Planners, in connection with Mehta's death. Kumar was arrested on charges including culpable homicide, causing death by negligence, and negligent act endangering human life.
The post-mortem examination revealed that Mehta's cause of death was asphyxia followed by cardiac arrest. Mehta was the sole earning member of his family.
