Truck driver who escaped death at Noida techie's accident site demands murder charges against authorities

THe tragical dying of the 27-year-old tekki, Yuvraj Mehta, in Noida came simply ii weeks after another person, a truck driver, almost suffered the same fate at the same accident site but was fortunately rescued.The accident site in Noida’s sector 150 features a sharp 90-degrees turn, which, according to Gurvinder Singh, does not have any barricades, reflectors, lights or warning signs, making that stretch extremely hazardous, reported news agency PTI.Singh met with an accident at the same site on January 2 but managed to survive as someone came to rescue him. However, he now holds developers and local authorities responsible for Mehta’s death and demands murder charges to be invoked against them.Also read: Noida techie’s death: Flagged risks in area 2 wks ago, say residentsMehta died on the intervening night of January 16-17 after his car, a Grand Vitara, met an accident while he was returning home from work and fell into a water pit in Noida’s sector 150 in the night, following which, he struggled to stay alive and frantically called for help for around two hours before he died. His car was taken out of the pit filled with water on Wednesday.‘Not accident, murder case should be registered’Infuriated over Mehta’s tragic death, even though the dangers at the accident site were already out in the open, Singh told PTI that the techie’s death was not an accident and that authorities and the developer should face murder charges.Also read: Stray dog that ‘circled’ Hanuman idol for 4 days in Bijnor rescued, shifted to Noida for treatment"This is not an accident; it is negligence that amounts to killing. A case under 302 (now BNS 103 for murder) should be registered against the developer who dug such a massive pit and left it exposed, and against the authority responsible for road safety," the news agency quoted Singh as saying."The young man kept pleading on the phone, 'Papa, please save me, I will die.' What arrangements had the authorities made there? That question will remain," he added.Noida authorities allegedly demanded money from SinghSingh also claimed that after his accident at the same site, a man claiming to be an official of the Noida Authority came to him and demanded money for the damage there, to which he told him, "I kept saying my life has just been saved, isn't that more important?”Also read: ‘There was no ground, I slipped and fell’: Trucker recalls narrow escape at crash site where Noida techie diedHe added that he was troubled by the officials of the Noida authority after the accident but not by the police who, he said, were just doing their duty. “If there is fault, it lies with those whose responsibility it was to make the road safe," he said.Hearing about Mehta’s death brought back horrors of the accident night for Singh, who said that he only survived by the grace of god. Getting emotional while talking about the recent tragedy, Singh said, "When I saw the videos of that young boy dying in front of his father, I cried. I kept thinking-- what must be going through his father's heart?"Recounting what had happened when he met the accident, Singh said that even though the speed of his truck was slow, the cabin of his vehicle rolled into a “pond-like water body” and “ the rear wheels got stuck near a drain between the road and the pit”."There was no signage, no reflective tape, no barricading to indicate a sharp turn,” he said.He added that as he managed to step out of the vehicle, he slipped and fell as there was no ground there. “Some passersby noticed and rescued me. If they hadn't come, it could have been fatal," he said.SIT probing Yuvraj Mehta’s deathAfter the uproar over the tragic death of Yuvraj Mehta, the Noida Authority CEO was removed on Monday and a Special Investigation Team is probing the circumstances of the techie's death. The UP government also terminated a junior engineer of Noida Authority’s traffic cell from his services.Abhay Kumar, director of MZ Wiztown Planners, who owned the place where the accident happened, has also been arrested by the police. An FIR has also been registered under several relevant sections including Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 106 (causing death by negligence) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, according to police.(With PTI inputs)