After Noida, ‘Killer Pit’ Claims Life In Delhi: 25-Year-Old Biker Dies After Falling Into Jal Board Pit In Janakpuri

New Delhi: A young man died after falling into an open pit along with his motorcycle in Delhi’s Janakpuri area late on Thursday night, allegedly due to civic negligence. The pit reportedly falls under the purview of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

The deceased has been identified as 25-year-old Kamal, a resident of Kailashpuri. According to initial information, Kamal was returning home from his office, HDFC Bank call centre in Rohini, Sector 10, late at night when the incident occurred.

Family members said Kamal was in constant contact with them while travelling back home. However, when he failed to return till late night and his phone became unreachable, the family began searching for him.

The family alleged that they visited multiple police stations through the night, including Janakpuri, Sagarpur, Vikaspuri and Rohini, but claim their concerns were not taken seriously. “After searching the entire night, we finally received a call from the police around 7.30 am,” a friend of the victim said, adding, “When we reached the spot, Kamal was found inside a manhole along with his motorcycle.”

The family has blamed the Delhi Jal Board for negligence, alleging that the pit or manhole was left uncovered. They have also raised suspicions that Kamal may have been killed and his body dumped into the manhole. “The police helped us find the location of my friend and asked us to look for him in a 200-metre radius here. Seven 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,” the victim’s friend said.

The police said a case has been registered and the matter is under investigation. “All angles are being examined. We are verifying whether the pit was open and if there was any foul play involved,” a police officer said.

The incident comes close on the heels of a similar tragedy reported from Greater Noida’s Sector 150, where a software engineer died after his car fell into a waterlogged pit last month. 

Yuvraj Mehta, 27, fought for nearly 90 minutes to stay alive, crying for help, flashing his phone’s torch and speaking to his father, before falling silent, even as his father stood just a few feet away, unable to reach him. The accident occurred around 12.30 am when Mehta was returning home and negotiating a sharp turn near ATS Le Grandiose. In dense fog and poor visibility, his Grand Vitara smashed through a damaged boundary wall and plunged into an excavation dug for a commercial project. The pit, over 20 feet deep and filled with water, was almost invisible on the road.

Mehta, who did not know how to swim, managed to get out of the sinking vehicle and climb onto its roof as it slowly went under. He repeatedly flashed his phone’s torch through the fog for 90 minutes, but officials claimed rescue teams “could not see even 10 metres” due to near-zero visibility. By around 1.45am, nearly an hour and a half after the crash, Mehta’s cries stopped and his body was recovered around 4.30 am, almost four hours after the accident.

According to officials, the pit, reportedly dug for infrastructure work, had filled with rainwater and was inadequately barricaded, making it nearly invisible to motorists at night. The victim’s vehicle plunged into the submerged excavation, trapping him inside. The incident had triggered public outrage, with residents accusing authorities of failing to secure construction sites despite repeated warnings. 

Both cases have once again highlighted a troubling pattern across Delhi-NCR, where uncovered or poorly marked pits, manholes and construction zones continue to pose deadly risks, particularly during night hours and the monsoon season.

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