A 25-year-old biker allegedly died after falling into an open pit in Delhi’s Janakpuri area on Thursday night while returning home, but his family claims they were left searching in the dark for hours, shuttling between six police stations before learning of his death the next morning.
The deceased has been identified as Kamal Dhyani, police said.
His brother alleged that the family received no help despite repeated visits to police stations and learnt about the tragedy only when an official answered Dhyani’s phone and informed them that his body had been recovered, according to news agency ANI.
“When I last talked to him, he said he would reach home in 10 minutes. When I called him again at 12:30 am, he didn’t pick up. We got worried. We started looking for him. I first went to his office in Rohini, then to the Janakpuri police station,” said the brother.
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“The police gave us his last location in this area. We kept looking for him but couldn’t find him. This is gross carelessness. My brother was not crazy that he would deliberately crash into the pit… At 1:30 am, I checked this pit, but he was not there at that time. We visited at least 6 police stations but did not receive any help… In the morning, when I again called my brother’s phone number, the police picked up the call and informed us that his body had been recovered from the pit… Had the police got into action on time, my brother would have been alive,” he added.
Delhi Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood expressed grief over the incident and said strict action would be taken if safety lapses were found.
The Delhi Jal Board also expressed grief over the death and said a committee had been formed to probe the incident.
Family searched for Dhyani over night
A friend of the deceased said they were told to wait till 11 am to file a complaint when they approached the police. Although the police agreed to track the phone, they allegedly did not share the exact location. He said seven people searched for Dhyani through the night but failed to locate him.
“I had talked to him last night when he had reached the District Centre. He was just 15 minutes from home. We waited for an hour, but he didn’t come. An hour later, we came to the District Centre. He had been in accidents twice before, so we thought something like that might have happened. He wasn’t picking up our calls,” said the friend.
“His bike was nowhere to be seen. When we went to the police station to file a complaint, we were told that our complaint would not be registered before 11 am. Upon request, the police helped us find the location of my friend and asked us to look for him in a 200-metre radius here. 7 people were searching for him from midnight to 7 am, but we could not find him. At 1 am, when we checked the pit, he was not there. We were on this road all the time, but we don’t understand how he ended up here after we checked.”
Another friend alleged police negligence, questioning why the phone could not be traced during the night.
“When we went back home at 7 am, we received a call from my friend’s phone, and the police informed us that he was in the pit. Why could his phone not be traced by the police at night? We suspect he was killed… What must his parents be going through… We still haven’t informed his mother… He was 25 years old and worked at the HDFC Bank call centre in Rohini Sector 10… Police have been deployed, and barricades have been set up around the pit now. Why couldn’t they do it earlier? My friend could have been saved…” he said.
We will investigate this matter: DCP
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Bhaskar said the matter would be examined if the family did not receive adequate assistance.
“A pit was dug for some work of the Delhi Jal Board. Last night, 25-year-old Kamal Dhyani’s bike fell into this pit, and he unfortunately died. We will investigate all stakeholders of this DJB work. The deceased’s brother came to Janakpuri Police Station around 2:45 am, and he informed that his brother had not reached home yet. The police tracked his mobile phone, which was indicating Janakpuri District Park. Head Constable Ramkesh searched for the deceased with the family members for about 2.5 hours, but they couldn’t find him,” said the DCP.
“At 8 am today, a woman called the police and informed them that a body was lying in a 15-foot deep pit. This is when everything came to light… As of now, we know that the family visited PS Janakpuri, but if the family says they did not receive help from 6-7 police stations, we will look into it… FIR is being registered… The bike will be pulled out of the pit soon…” he added.
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