Call centre employee Kamal Dhyani's parents were waiting for him to come home from work so that they could begin celebrations for their wedding anniversary. At 12.50 am on Friday, he called his brother to inform him that he would arrive in 15 minutes.
Kamal, however, stopped answering calls after some time, and the night turned into a nightmare for the family and hours later, police informed them in the morning that he had died after allegedly falling into a 15-foot-deep pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) while riding his motorcycle in west Delhi.
They spent the entire night making frantic runs to his office and police stations looking for him.
“Our parents were supposed to celebrate their marriage anniversary and we had planned to cut a cake at midnight. Instead, we were out on the streets all night searching for Kamal,” his twin brother Karan told PTI.
Karan was the last person to speak to Kamal, who told him that he would reach home within 15 minutes. "He asked our mother to prepare chapatis, saying he was reaching home soon. When he did not arrive even after half an hour and stopped answering calls, we got worried,” Karan said.
The family first went to Kamal's office, a call centre linked to a private bank in Rohini Sector-10, where his manager said he had already left and should have reached home by then, he added.
“After that, the manager came with us, and we started searching for him and approached several police stations for help,” Karan said.
Their search ended in the morning when police informed them that Kamal's body and his motorcycle had been found inside a pit dug up for a sewer pipeline rehabilitation project in Delhi's Janakpuri area. Kamal had gifted the bike he was riding as a birthday gift.
Kamal has two priests in the family, his father and his elder brother. Karan, his twin, was preparing for the Chartered Accountant examinations, while his mother was a homemaker.
“We never imagined that a day meant for celebration would become the darkest day of our lives. We told our mother about his death much later. Our father, who had been searching for him all night, had to see his body wrapped in a bag,” Karan said.
Friends and colleagues remembered Kamal as a cheerful and hardworking person who was striving to build a better future for himself and his family.
“He bought that motorcycle with his own savings on his birthday in 2024. He was pleased with it and would take the bike everywhere. He was a simple man who never fought with anyone and worked hard to fulfil his dreams,” said Mayank, a childhood friend.
Kamal's manager also described him as a diligent and sincere employee.
The family has demanded access to CCTV footage of the area near the pit to ascertain the exact sequence of events. They alleged gross negligence on the part of the authorities, including the police and the DJB.
“We want clarity about what exactly happened so that this never happens to anyone else. We are urging the government to ensure a fast-tracked investigation,” Karan said.
Police have registered an FIR under charges of culpable homicide against the contractor and the concerned officials of DJB. Three DJB engineers have been suspended in connection with the incident.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
