Engineer drowns after 90-minute wait as rescue efforts fail in Greater Noida
Greater Noida: A 27-year-old software engineer lost his life in Greater Noida after his car plunged into a deep, waterlogged pit in dense fog, with rescue teams unable to reach him in time despite his repeated pleas for help.
The victim is identified as Yuvraj Mehta, who worked in Gurugram. Mehta was driving back to his residence at Tata Eureka Park in Noida’s Sector 150 over the weekend when the accident occurred. According to police, Mehta misjudged a turn amid poor visibility. The vehicle jumped a drain before crashing into an approximately 50-foot-deep pit filled with rainwater. Investigators noted that the excavation site had no barricades, reflective markers or warning signage.
After the car fell into the pit, Mehta managed to climb onto its roof and remained there for nearly 90 minutes as water levels rose. During that time, he called his father, Raj Kumar Mehta, seeking urgent help. “My son himself called me while he was trapped. He said, ‘Papa, I am stuck, the car has fallen into the drain,’” his father had said earlier, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Teams from the police, fire department, State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force eventually reached the spot, but their movement was slowed by heavy winter fog and darkness. Police said ropes thrown into the pit failed to reach Mehta, while ladders and a crane deployed by firefighters were also unable to bridge the distance. Before he could be pulled out, the car sank completely. His body was later recovered using a boat.
Following public outrage over the incident, police registered a case of culpable homicide against two real estate firms linked to the plot, MZ Wiztown Planners Ltd and Lotus Greens Construction Pvt Ltd. Both companies denied responsibility. Lotus Greens said the land had been transferred to another party with the Noida Authority’s approval in 2019-20, while MZ Wiztown Planners’ promoter Abhay Kumar claimed the excavation already existed when the land was handed over and that the firm had not been granted permission to begin work.
The Noida Authority has also issued show-cause notices to officials responsible for traffic-related work in the Sector 150 area, and a junior engineer has been dismissed. Assistant Commissioner of Police Hemant Upadhyay told HT that the initial findings suggest that dense fog may have caused Mehta to misjudge the turn, adding that overspeeding was also being examined as a possible factor. Officials acknowledged that although streetlights were present, near-zero visibility due to fog severely limited sightlines at the time of the accident.
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Man booked for duping firm of Rs 6 cr by posing as Infosys CSR official
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against a man and his accomplices for allegedly cheating a firm of Rs 6 crore by falsely claiming to be associated with an IT company and promising to facilitate CSR funds for its projects, police said on Friday.
The crime is said to have taken place between September 1, 2025 and March 20, 2026, and after consultation with legal experts the company decided to file a complaint at the Devanahalli police station here, they said.
The FIR was registered on March 30 following a complaint by Mysore Mercantile Company, alleging that a person named Gagan N Deep approached them, posing as the Regional Head (CSR) at Infosys Ltd, they said.
According to the FIR, Deep claimed he reported to senior officials - Harsh J, Senior Regional Manager - Infrastructure, Facilities Operation, Public Relations and CSR Works, and Niladri Prasad Mishra, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Infrastructure and Climate Action.
The FIR alleged that the accused expressed interest in the activities of their associated trust, Heggunje Rajeeva Shetty Charitable Trust, Bangalore, and assured facilitation of CSR funds from Infosys Ltd.
It further stated that the accused sent a team of four to five individuals representing Infosys, including persons identified as Chethan and Tejas, to Udupi, Mangaluru and other places to verify the trust’s activities.
According to the complaint, the accused subsequently induced the complainant to pay an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to alleged regular vendors of Infosys as a condition for approval of CSR grants.
The complainant stated that a total amount of Rs 6 crore was paid, including Rs 1.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of Anitha Ventures and Rs 3.75 crore through demand drafts in favour of ANS Engineerings, apart from an additional cash payment of Rs 30 lakh allegedly handed over to the accused through his driver near Nandi Upachar Hotel in Devanahalli, as per his instructions.
The FIR further alleged that the accused issued a purported sanction letter dated October 21, 2025, allegedly from Infosys bearing the signature of Mishra, and executed a grant agreement dated January 8, 2026 between Infosys and the charitable trust for the construction of more than 855 houses across Karnataka with a total grant of Rs 179 crore.
Another grant agreement dated January 13, 2026 was also executed for construction of primary health care centres across the state with a total grant of Rs 178 crore, it stated.
However, the complainant later suspected that the representations made by the accused were false, the documents were fabricated, and the entire transaction was fraudulent in nature, as the accused dishonestly induced them to part with substantial amounts under the pretext of EMD for CSR grants.
"Despite repeated follow-ups neither has any grant materialised nor have the amounts been returned, and the accused is now unresponsive and deliberately avoiding communication," the FIR added.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), Section 319(2) (cheating by personation), Section 336(3) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), police said, adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
Efforts are being made to nab the suspects in the case, they added.
