SIT questions Noida Authority as builder gets judicial custody

Noida: A builder arrested in connection with the death of the 27-year-old software engineer in Greater Noida was on Wednesday sent to judicial custody for two weeks, as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) stepped up its probe into the incident, questioning officials of the Noida Authority that is facing allegations of negligence.

“Abhay Kumar, one of the accused builders who is the director of MZ Wiztown Planners, was presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Surajpur. He has been sent to 14 days’ judicial custody,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Greater Noida) Hemant Upadhyaya stated.

Upadhyaya said that efforts were on to arrest the other builder -- of real estate developer Lotus Greens -- named in the FIR.

He said forensic experts collected samples from the accident site on Wednesday as part of the investigation.

The three-member SIT, constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government, spent several hours at the Noida Authority headquarters in Sector 6, questioning senior officials as well as junior-level staff, particularly those linked to the traffic cell, officials said.

The SIT, led by Additional Director General of Police (Meerut Zone) Bhanu Bhaskar and comprising the Meerut divisional commissioner and the chief engineer of the Public Works Department, had arrived in Noida on Tuesday.

It visited the accident site in Sector 150 and also spoke to the victim’s father, Raj Kumar Mehta.

Forensic teams inspected Sector 150, where Yuvraj Mehta’s car fell into a water-filled pit on January 16, killing him despite rescue attempts.

Following public outrage, UP government removed the Noida Authority CEO and ordered an SIT probe. Abhay Kumar, MZ Wiztown Planners director, was arrested; FIR cites culpable homicide and negligence.