The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held the BJP government directly responsible for the tragic death of a young biker who fell into a pit dug on a road in Janakpuri. Drawing parallels with last month’s Noida incident, in which a software engineer died after falling into a drain, the AAP said the biker lay in the pit through the night and died after prolonged suffering. The party said that despite the family approaching multiple police stations across Delhi, no help was provided, and launched a sharp attack on the BJP over what it described as a complete failure of governance.
Taking to X, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal stated: “This was not an accident; it was a murder. The BJP has learned nothing even from the Noida incident. Gross negligence and an utterly irresponsible approach have now become the defining features of BJP governments, and it is the common people who are paying the price. May God grant strength to the family that lost its child due to the government’s negligence.”
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters on Friday, Delhi state President Saurabh Bharadwaj said the Janakpuri incident must be viewed in the context of the recent Noida case. “A few days ago, an engineer died a painful death in Noida due to the negligence of the administration and the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh government,” he said.
Drawing a parallel, the AAP Delhi Unit Chief pointed out that a similar incident had now occurred in Delhi, where a biker died after falling into a pit dug on a road in the Janakpuri assembly constituency of minister Ashish Sood. Calling the incident deeply distressing, he remarked, “Both the minister’s hoardings and road pits are famous in Ashish Sood’s constituency.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj further stated that on Friday night, a 25-year-old youth was found fallen beneath one of these hoardings. He added that the youth was employed at an HDFC Rohini call centre.
The AAP Delhi State President said, “The pit had existed for some time and the RWA had repeatedly demanded that it be barricaded. However, BJP’s ‘lying minister’ Ashish Sood arrived there on Friday morning only to make excuses. At such a moment, he should have said that an impartial inquiry would be conducted. Instead, he said he had already conducted an inquiry himself.”
Pointing to a clear conflict of interest, Saurabh Bharadwaj said Ashish Sood is the minister of the very department concerned. “The administrative department of the Delhi Jal Board is Urban Development, and Ashish Sood is its minister. Later, he said that the chief engineer would form a committee to investigate,” he said.
He continued, “But when the minister had already declared that everything was in order, it implied that the boy himself must have been ‘mad’ to jump into the pit with his bike and die.”
The AAP Delhi Unit Chief said the government response mirrored the Noida case, where it was claimed that the victim was drunk and drove his car into a pit, allowing the administration to evade responsibility. “Now, here too, attempts are being made to prove that the boy himself jumped into the pit with his bike, as if he removed all the barricades and decided to jump,” he added.
He said neighbours and the victim’s friends searched for him throughout the night. “They stated that barricades and curtains were installed only after the police arrived in the morning. At night, there was nothing of the sort, with only one side covered and the other left open,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said, calling it the height of shamelessness that Minister Ashish Sood visited the site, gave the department a clean chit in advance, and at the same time claimed that an inquiry would be conducted.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said the allegations against Police Commissioner Satish Golcha and his department were even more serious. He noted, “On Thursday, Delhi Police threatened action against those spreading what it termed ‘rumours’, but said the AAP is not afraid of such warnings. He added that Delhi Police, in a press release, had claimed it even registers false missing complaints, which is why the numbers appear high.”
However, Saurabh Bharadwaj highlighted that friends of the biker said 25-year-old Kamal left his Rohini call centre at 11:53 pm and reached Janakpuri, after which he called home to say he would reach within 15 minutes, indicating that his residence was nearby.
“When he did not arrive even after half an hour, the family became worried. His elderly father, brother, and friends went to police stations searching for him, but no complaint was registered. His friends said they visited six different police stations during the night, but no FIR was registered. They went to Rohini, Palam, Sagarpur, Mangolpuri, Dabri, and Janakpuri police stations, but were told the report would be registered later at 11:00 am,” he added.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said this reflects the shamelessness of a police force that was patting itself on the back on Thursday. He said the police argument that “this happens every year” is even more shameful.
“If so many minor girls go missing every year, it means the police were as incompetent last year as they are this year. Despite visiting six police stations, no report was registered. If a report was registered, the police should show it, because the victim’s family maintains that no report was filed,” he continued.
The senior AAP leader said that what the victim’s friends revealed was deeply worrying. According to them, around seven people, including the victim’s father, brother, and five friends, kept searching the Janakpuri district centre area after police told them that Kamal’s last known location was there.
“The police shared a location with them but deleted it immediately afterward. The police had the location because the victim’s phone was ringing. It is possible that he was still alive at that time. It is unlikely that someone would die instantly after falling into such a pit. He may have fallen, but his death likely occurred several hours later,” he said.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the seven family members searched the area and stated that at around 1:00 am they looked into the pit, but neither Kamal nor his bike was there at the time. “This raises a serious question for Police Commissioner Satish Golcha: when the parents and friends were searching through the night, Kamal was not there, yet in the morning they were told he was found in the same pit,” he noted.
He questioned why CCTV footage has not surfaced so far. Referring to the Noida case, Saurabh Bharadwaj said that when a youth drowned there, the police retrieved CCTV footage from a restaurant to attempt to prove that he had been drinking alcohol. “CCTV footage of a deceased person was found there, but no footage has been released yet,” he said, stating that the police are withholding the footage to hide the fact that no barricades were in place.
Saurabh Bharadwaj said the AAP demands that Union Home Minister Amit Shah ensure that CCTV footage from all PWD roads and traffic crossings, which are otherwise used to issue challans, be made public immediately.
He questioned what the police are trying to hide, and asserted, “The demand is that CCTV footage from the area be released immediately so the truth can come out. If this is not being done, it clearly indicates that something is being concealed.”
He also questioned BJP minister Ashish Sood, pointing out that the site in Janakpuri is located very close to his residence. He asked whether Ashish Sood or his family could not see such a large pit just 100 or 200 metres away. Saurabh Bharadwaj noted that as the Urban Development Minister, the Delhi Jal Board falls under Ashish Sood’s charge.
“He has put up hoardings everywhere, but failed to notice the pit,” he said, adding that Ashish Sood must explain why he rushed to the site only to engage in damage control.
Saurabh Bharadwaj further demanded that Delhi Police explain why a missing report was not registered despite the victim’s family visiting six police stations, even though Police Commissioner Satish Golcha had certified just a day earlier that Delhi Police registers all missing reports immediately.
Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned, “If that claim is true, why was the victim’s report not registered on Thursday itself? Why is there no CCTV footage and why was the location deleted?” These are the questions the AAP has posed to the BJP government and the Delhi Police, and Saurabh Bharadwaj said they must be answered.
