Noida Sector 150 Drowning: Real Estate Firms Face Legal Action
The Greater Noida Police on Thursday (January 22) arrested two officebearers of the real estate company Lotus Greens Pvt Ltd in connection with the death by drowning of a 27-year-old software professional in Noida’s Sector 150 early on January 17. The incident has sparked a series of legal actions against the involved parties.
On Wednesday, police had registered an FIR against five officials of Lotus Greens in the same case. However, none of them have been arrested yet. Abhay Kumar, the director of another realty firm, MZ Wiztown Planners, was arrested on Tuesday. A local court sent him to judicial custody on Wednesday.
Police identified the two individuals arrested on Thursday as Ravi Bansal, a resident of Faridabad, Haryana, and Sachin Karanwal, a resident of Shalimar Garden in Ghaziabad. “Bansal and Karanwal are office bearers at Lotus Greens Pvt Ltd, and they also have a connection with the plot [in which the tragedy happened],” a police officer said.
The deceased, Yuvraj Mehta, drove his car over a broken boundary wall of the plot into a deep swamp that has been created by the accumulation of water over the years. Police have accused officials of the company in possession of the plot of negligence that allegedly led to the death. “Four [police] teams are working to nab the suspects named in the case, and more arrests may follow soon,” the officer added.
Also on Thursday, police filed a separate First Information Report (FIR) under Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and Sections 24 and 43 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, as well as Sections 290, 270, and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS) against the five allottees of the plot, including MZ Wiztown promoter Abhay Kumar.
The land of which the plot is part was allotted to Lotus Greens in 2014 for a Sports City project for more than Rs 2,300 crore. The land under Lotus Greens was later subdivided into 24 plots; the now-water-filled plot in which Yuvraj Mehta drowned, went to Wiztown. “I found that near the public road, a very long and wide pit has been dug, which appears to have been excavated using large heavy machines. This pit has been filled with water for several years, and its depth is also very huge,” says the FIR, registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Regal Kumar, the Investigating Officer of the case.
On Monday, police had filed a case under sections dealing with culpable homicide, causing death by negligence, and act endangering life against both MZ Wiztown and Lotus Greens. In a statement, Lotus Greens has condemned the incident but has denied responsibility, saying the plot had been transferred with the approval of Noida Authority. The promoter of Wiztown, on the other hand, said his company had received the land in “an excavated condition,” and that he was not granted permission to commence the project there.
Yuvraj, a resident of Tata Eureka housing society in Sector 150, was returning from Gurgaon and was less than a kilometre from home when his car fell into the swamp in dense fog. According to investigators and eyewitness accounts, Yuvraj managed to climb onto the roof of the partially submerged car and kept calling for help for around two hours before he drowned.
The tragedy has raised serious questions about the safety and responsibility of real estate companies in maintaining the plots they own, especially in densely populated areas. The ongoing investigations and legal actions are expected to bring more clarity and accountability to the situation.
