CM orders SIT probe into Noida techie’s death; CEO shunted
Yuvraj Mehta, 27, was killed in the early hours of Saturday after his car skidded in dense fog, broke the drain boundary and fell into a deep, waterlogged pit dug for the basement of an under-construction commercial complex in Sector 150
LUCKNOW Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday ordered constitution of a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the death of a 27-year-old software engineer, Yuvraj Mehta, whose car plunged into a water filled pit in Noida on Saturday.
The SIT will be headed by ADG (zone), Meerut, Bhanu Bhaskar. Meerut divisional commissioner Bhanu Chandra Goswami and Public Works Department (Meerut) chief engineer Ajay Verma have also been included as members of the panel, said a state government spokesperson. According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), it has been tasked to submit its report to the CM within five days.
“Chief minister Yogi Adityananth took cognisance of the death of a software engineer after his car fell into a water filled pit of a construction site in Noida on Saturday,” said the spokesperson.
The UP government also transferred Noida chief executive officer (CEO) Lokesh M, a 2005-batch IAS officer. The action came amid a growing outrage over the death of the software engineer in Sector 150 of Noida.
Lokesh M, who had assumed charge as Noida Authority CEO in July 2023 after replacing Ritu Maheshwari, also served as the de facto managing director of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC). A qualified dentist from Karnataka, he had earlier served as divisional commissioner in Kanpur and Saharanpur.
Yuvraj Mehta, 27, was killed in the early hours of Saturday after his car skidded in dense fog, broke the drain boundary and fell into a deep, waterlogged pit dug for the basement of an under-construction commercial complex near a drain in Sector 150.
According to eyewitnesses, the UP-State Disaster Response Force, police and fire brigade personnel were present on the spot, but did not enter the water, allegedly citing cold temperature and potential hazards below the water surface.
The incident triggered allegations of negligence and rescue delays, protests by residents, and an FIR against real estate developers with the Noida Police now probing the matter of death due to negligence.
His father Raj Kumar Mehta alleged negligence by local authorities and demanded that accountability be set in this case so that “no one else loses their son like this” in future.
