The Noida police on Thursday arrested two more builders in connection with the death of a 27-year-old software engineer who drowned after his car plunged into a waterlogged trench near a construction site in Sector 150, officials said.
“The arrested accused have been identified as Ravi Bansal, a resident of Faridabad, and Sachin Karnwal, a resident of Ghaziabad,” a police official told PTI.
Police said both men are associated with real estate developer Lotus Greens, though their exact roles in the company could not be confirmed immediately.
According to officials, the arrests were made by the Knowledge Park police station team under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 106 (causing death by negligence) and 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others).
“It is noteworthy that on the intervening night of January 16 and 17, a car driver, Yuvraj Mehta (27), died after drowning in a waterlogged plot due to alleged negligence on the part of the builder and its associates at a construction site of Lotus Greens,” the police said in a statement on Thursday.
Mehta, who worked as a software engineer in Gurugram, was returning home to Sector 150 when his car fell into a water-filled pit near the construction site.
Police said he remained trapped, first inside the vehicle and then outside it, for nearly two hours, pleading for help before drowning.
The FIR in the case was lodged at the Knowledge Park Police Station against Lotus Greens and MZ Wiztown Planners following a complaint by the victim’s father.
Earlier this week, police arrested Abhay Kumar, director of MZ Wiztown Planners. He was sent to judicial custody on Wednesday, officials said.
On Wednesday, police also registered a separate FIR and booked five named officials of the two real estate firms for alleged violations of environmental and pollution norms, along with negligence at the construction site.
The case has triggered public outrage and raised questions about accountability at construction sites in the area.
A Special Investigation Team constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government is now probing the matter, including the role of developers and the Noida Authority.
