Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj met the family of Kamal Dhyani, the young man who died after falling into an uncovered government pothole in Janakpuri, and said the tragedy laid bare the BJP government’s administrative failure and lack of accountability.
The AAP Delhi State President said the family was forced to approach six police stations to report Kamal Dhyani’s disappearance without a single FIR being registered, while ministers issued false claims of barricading at the site and the police detained a labourer instead of acting against the real contractor responsible for the hazardous spot.
After meeting the family, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Kamal Dhyani’s father is a priest at a small temple. Kamal was the only earning member of the family and the sole support for household expenses. The family and Kamal’s friends are most anguished by the fact that everyone knows there was no barricading over the pothole. The pit was left completely open in pitch darkness, and anyone like Kamal could have fallen into it. Kamal’s family themselves informed Delhi government ministers that there was no barricading at the site in the morning, yet despite knowing the truth, BJP ministers Ashish Sood and Parvesh Verma lied and claimed that full barricading was in place and that they did not know how the accident happened.”
The AAP Delhi Unit Chief stated the core issue was deeply disturbing. “The fundamental problem is that a person who died due to government negligence is now being made responsible for his own death because he cannot come forward to tell the truth himself. It is extremely objectionable that the person who became a victim of negligence is the first one being blamed, because they believe no one will question it and no one will dig out the truth.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj said this was precisely why crucial evidence was being withheld. “This is the reason the police have still not made the CCTV footage public. The police know very well what happened that night, how Kamal fell into the pit, and how the government tried to cover it up afterwards.”
He pointed out, “The entire footage is safely with the police, but they are not releasing it because it will expose everyone. The police also have the postmortem report and know the exact time Kamal died after the fall, but they do not want to say anything on that either. When the family and friends wanted to take out a candle march, the police tried to intimidate them, and we were also detained.”
He further said that the government was shielding a powerful contractor. “The contractor for this work is KK Spun, a very large contractor. The government has known this from day one, yet ministers Ashish Sood and Parvesh Verma are silent on this. They know exactly who KK Spun is, but because of influence, no arrest has been made. Instead, a poor labourer Yogesh Yadav was brought from Etawah and arrested. Is this their idea of justice? The family believes the real culprits are also those police stations where the family kept running around the entire night. The family and Kamal’s friends visited six different police stations throughout the night, and CCTV footage exists as proof of this.”
Raising serious questions on police accountability, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Has anyone heard any statement from the Police Commissioner so far? Why did six police stations refuse to register the complaint? What action has been taken against which SHO? No action has been taken against anyone because there are orders from the top not to register complaints so that crime statistics can be shown as low. The accountability of the police in society has completely collapsed, and the government too has shed all responsibility. This family is a resident of Delhi, a taxpayer, whose child died due to government negligence. Where should they go now?”
Appealing to the public, he said, “All citizens step out wearing helmets on the road, and such an accident can happen to anyone tomorrow. Think about your children’s future. Such negligence can leave anyone orphaned. When a young son of a family is lost, immense pressure is exerted on that family. Even very wealthy and powerful people often cannot speak up under pressure from the police and the government, but this family is still standing firm with the truth. They have not abused anyone or named anyone. They are only asking why their complaint was not registered at six police stations and why ministers lied about barricading.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj asserted, “We must stand with the family in this fight for truth. Every household has young children, and if accountability is not fixed today, every mother will continue to live with the fear of whether her son will return home safely or not. This is a fight that all of us must fight together
