A man riding a motorcycle died after falling into a deep pit in Delhi’s Janakpuri district centre area on Thursday, triggering outrage on social media and renewed scrutiny over road safety around construction zones.
Images circulating online show the biker’s body lying at the bottom of the pit beside his Apache RTR 200 motorcycle. The victim was wearing a helmet, riding jacket and gloves at the time of the accident.
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According to sources, construction linked to the Delhi Jal Board was underway at the location, where a trench had been dug on the road. The circumstances under which the pit was left open and whether adequate barricading or warning signs were in place are yet to be clarified.
Victim identified as HDFC Bank official
The deceased has been identified as Kamal, who worked as an Assistant Manager at HDFC Bank’s Rohini branch.
Family members said Kamal was returning home late on Wednesday night and had spoken to his twin brother Karan, informing him that he would reach home within ten minutes. After that call, repeated attempts to reach him failed.
According to the family, Kamal’s phone kept ringing initially but later appeared to be switched off. Concerned relatives searched for him through the night and said they visited multiple police stations seeking help.
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Police later shared the victim’s last known location, which pointed to the Janakpuri district centre area. Despite the search, Kamal could not be traced until several hours later, when the family was informed that his body had been recovered.
Political reaction over road safety
Reacting to the incident, AAP leader and former MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj took a swipe at the Delhi government in a post on X.
“Shocking !!! An innocent biker fell into a deep pothole on the road, got stuck, lay there all night, and died. The BJP government in Delhi has learned nothing from the Noida incident. They just keep lying every day. Janakpuri District Center, Delhi,” Bharadwaj wrote.
The Janakpuri death comes just days after a similar incident in Noida’s Sector 150, where 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta died after his car fell into a waterlogged pit beside a construction site on January 16.
The back-to-back incidents have intensified concerns over safety norms at urban construction sites and the absence of visible safeguards on public roads.
