‘Headlight was still on’: How a pit dug hours before tragedy became death trap for Delhi biker

NEW DELHI: The motorcycle’s headlight was still on when the contractor’s labourer, Yogesh, reached the spot and informed his boss, Rajesh Kumar Prajapati, about the incident. The sub-contractor arrived within 15–20 minutes, yet no call for help was made.“When Yogesh saw the victim, the motorcycle's headlight was still on. He then informed his boss Prajapati at 12.22 am that this was confirmed through call records. The subcontractor reached the spot within 15-20 minutes from his home in Tri Nagar,” the DCP said.A day after a 25-year-old biker plunged to his death in a 14-foot-deep pit dug for water works in Janakpuri, Delhi Police arrested the sub-contractor who excavated the site.Investigators said that despite being alerted to the accident at night and reaching the location shortly after, the accused looked at the victim lying inside the pit and walked away without calling for rescue.The biker, Kamal Dhyani, remained in the open pit for more than six hours before police were finally alerted the next morning.The arrested sub-contractor has been identified as Rajesh Kumar Prajapati, a resident of Tri Nagar.

He told police that he did not inform authorities because he was frightened.Deputy commissioner of police (west) Darade Sharad Bhaskar said police identified an eyewitness, Vipin Singh, who had seen a bike fall into the pit. Vipin, along with his family, witnessed the accident while returning home to Sagarpur after attending a wedding in Rohini. He informed a security guard at a nearby residential complex, who then relayed the information to the contractor’s labourer, Yogesh.Police are now searching for Yogesh, who, after being informed about the biker, called his employer but took no steps to help the victim.Police suspect Yogesh has fled to his hometown Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. Investigators have questioned the security guard to establish the sequence of events and said the main contractor who hired the sub-contractor will also be questioned.Police were alerted to the incident around 8.03 am on Friday by a woman who was on her way to drop her son at school.TOI spoke to the family of the woman who alerted the PCR. They said she noticed the motorcycle inside the pit around 8 am and first tried to seek help locally. “My wife first informed a security guard (different from the guard whom Vipin informed), but he paid no attention. As more people gathered, she asked them to alert the police, but they made excuses—one even claimed he didn’t have balance on her phone,” her husband said.

Frustrated, she remained at the spot and called the PCR herself, requesting immediate assistance.Police sources said that on the night of the incident, Prajapati made two to three phone calls, and those he contacted will also be questioned.Prajapati told police that he had entered the construction field only after Covid. “We have asked for documents from the Delhi Jal Board to verify for whom he was employed at the time of the incident,” a senior police officer said.The inquiry revealed that the pit into which Kamal fell had been dug on the afternoon of January 5, just hours before the accident. Another pit in the area had been excavated earlier and was familiar to regular commuters. However, this was a fresh excavation, which Kamal might not have anticipated, the officer added.Police said an on-site inspection showed that the Delhi Jal Board and its contractors failed to ensure basic safety measures during excavation, including barricading, warning signs, reflectors and lighting. Despite knowing that open pits could be fatal, no precautions were taken and no security guard was deployed at the site.