Noida Techie Death: ‘They Told Me Not to Speak’, Witness Alleges Police Pressure

A 27-year-old techie, Yuvraj Mehta, died in Noida after his car plunged into a deep, water-filled pit. The unsecured pit had existed for over 3 years. Despite his calls for help, rescue efforts were delayed and inadequate, leading to his drowning.

The tragic death of 27-year-old techie Yuvraj Mehta in Noida’s Sector 150 has sparked a major controversy involving safety negligence, delayed rescue efforts, and witness claims of police pressure, exposing deeper civic lapses in the rapidly developing city.

The car was finally retrieved from the pit three days later by NDRF teams, a painstaking operation that showcased the depth and hazards of the waterlogged trench.

Mehta, a software engineer, was returning to his Tata Eureka Park residence from Gurugram around midnight when his SUV skidded on a sharp turn in dense fog and plunged into a deep, water-filled excavation pit dug for the basement of a commercial complex. The vehicle broke through a poorly maintained boundary wall and sank in the flooded shaft along a desolate stretch of road near a drain.

According to police reports and accounts from family members, Mehta climbed onto the roof of his submerged Grand Vitara and called his father for help. Rescue teams from the police, fire department, SDRF and NDRF responded, but their efforts were thwarted by thick fog, treacherous terrain, and inadequate equipment. Despite his desperate cries and repeated calls for help over more than an hour, Mehta drowned before he could be pulled to safety.

In the aftermath, local witness Moninder Singh, a delivery executive who arrived at the scene and attempted a rescue himself, has made startling allegations that police pressured him to stay away from the media and even recorded a scripted statement on their behalf. Singh claims officers told him to give a video portraying their rescue efforts in a favourable light, and that he was discouraged from speaking freely about what he had witnessed.

Unattended pit since 2021

Further raising concerns over civic oversight, satellite imagery reviewed from Google Earth shows that the large water-filled pit had existed at the site since late 2021 and remained unfenced and unsecured for over three years despite surrounding urban development. Images from multiple years show stagnant dark water, algae growth, and construction debris, indicating prolonged abandonment and lack of safety measures such as barricades, warning signs or proper drainage.

The incident has triggered public outrage and demands for accountability. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed, and police have registered FIRs against builders involved in the plot’s development. Locals and Mehta’s family have criticised authorities for ignoring earlier warnings from the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department about the need for regulators to manage water accumulation at the site.

The case underscores the need for stricter enforcement of safety protocols at construction sites and better emergency response capabilities in fast-growing urban areas — lessons that many fear go unheeded until more lives are lost.