Autorickshaw falls into rainwater-filled ditch in Delhi, driver drowns
New Delhi, Jun 30: A 51-year-old autorickshaw driver drowned in a ditch filled with rainwater after the vehicle accidentally fell into it in northeast Delhi's Harsh Vihar on Friday, police said.
The ditch was dug by the Public Works department to install a pillar as part of the construction of a flyover. Rainwater filled the ditch following heavy showers in the national capital during the last two days, they said.
The victim was identified as Nandanagri resident Ajit Sharma. A Public Works department official said they are trying to ascertain the facts.
Police said the accident occurred at the site of the under-construction Gagan Cinema flyover.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Joy Tirkey said a PCR call was received around 3.30 pm about a man drowning in a ditch near the service road alongside Wazirabad Road.
The ditch, which was dug near an under-construction flyover, was filled with rainwater. Preliminary inquiry suggests the man did not realise the depth of the ditch, tried to drive over it and drowned accidentally, Tirkey said.
The autorickshaw was found stuck in the ditch and Sharma's body was spotted by a passerby, he added.
The police have not found any witness to Sharma's drowning. The autorickshaw driver left home on Thursday night, they said.
There were no injury marks on Sharma's body. It will be handed over to his family after post-mortem, the police said.
Over the past two days, several parts of the national capital have witnessed waterlogging and traffic congestion due to the heavy rain.
The waterlogging of roads also sparked an attack from the BJP with the party's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva hitting out at the AAP government.
In a statement, Sachdeva said that despite the Delhi government's "tall claims", most roads in the city were submerged after the rain on Thursday night and Friday.
"The situation can be gauged from the fact that the ground floor of the secretariat of the Delhi government was waterlogged while an auto driver died by drowning in a roadside ditch in Harsh Vihar near Wazirabad. The news has disturbed the people of Delhi," he said.
The Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi are answerable to the people for the waterlogging of roads, Sachdeva said.
The BJP leader also alleged that there was a big scam in the cleaning of Delhi's drains.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also held the Public Works department portfolio, approved two projects worth Rs 341.20 crore in the Expenditure Finance Committee meeting last September.
He had said at the time, "With the construction of an underpass at Loni Chowk in northeast Delhi and a flyover between Nand Nagri and Gagan Cinema junction, the entire 10-kilometre road stretch between Signature Bridge to Bhopura Chowk will become signal free."
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'Contract killing' plot busted in Thane; victim's brother among four held
Thane (PTI): The Thane police have uncovered a "contract killing" plot and arrested four persons, including the victim's younger brother, who allegedly hired the assailants and lodged the complaint to mislead investigators and hide his role in the murder, officials said on Sunday.
The victim, identified as Paresh Tolaram Patil (40), was hacked to death on May 12 over a property dispute, and his brother allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh to the contract killers, an official said.
The same day, Naresh Tolaram Patil (37), an auto-rickshaw driver residing in the Bhiwandi area of Maharashtra's Thane district, lodged a police complaint alleging that his elder brother Paresh had been murdered by unidentified persons.
According to Naresh, his brother was riding his motorcycle to work at Vasai in neighbouring Palghar district when the unidentified assailants intercepted him and assaulted him with sharp weapons, in-charge Superintendent of Police Anmol Mittal said.
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Following the complaint, the Ganeshpuri police registered a case of murder on May 13.
The investigation teams examined several CCTV recordings along the suspected escape routes and used advanced technical surveillance.
The police then traced the registration plate of a vehicle allegedly used by the assailants, leading to the arrest of three alleged contract killers -- Rakesh Bhagwan Patil (37), Premjit Madhukar Gharat (38), and Daksh Bhanukant Bhoir (24) -- from Palghar, the official said.
"During intense interrogation, the three persons confessed to their involvement in the killing. They revealed that the plot was masterminded by the victim's brother, Naresh Patil, who had lodged the initial police complaint to misguide the law enforcement agencies," he said.
According to the official, Naresh Patil confessed to hatching the conspiracy due to an ongoing property dispute with his elder brother and that he had offered Rs 10 lakh to the three accused to eliminate Paresh.
Naresh Patil has also been arrested, and a further probe is underway into the case, they added.
