In a major development, the Knowledge Park Police on Tuesday arrested Abhay Kumar, the builder and owner of real estate firm MZ Wiztown Planners Ltd, from Sector-150, Noida, in connection with the death of a Noida techie. Yuvraj Mehta, a 27-year-old engineer, drowned in a Noida ditch late Friday.
He suffered suffocation underwater and cardiac arrest, resulting in his death. The First Information Report (FIR) revealed that MZ Wiztown Planners Ltd was among the firms responsible, as the incident took place on its land.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Gautam Budh Nagar) Rajeev Narayan had earlier confirmed to the Hindustan Times that MZ Wiztown Planners Ltd and Lotus Greens Construction Pvt Ltd were named in the FIR.
In a statement, Lotus Greens condemned the incident but denied any responsibility, stating that the plot had been transferred to another party with the Noida authority’s approval in 2019–20. The promoter of MZ Wiztown Planners added that he received the land in an “excavated condition” and had not been granted permission to commence any project there.
The arrest comes hours after Noida Authority chief executive officer M Lokesh was removed from his post.
The victim's father, Raj Kumar Mehta, had alleged negligence by local authorities and demanded accountability from the government. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, earlier in the morning, ordered an SIT probe into the accident.
Yuvraj was returning home from work when the accident occurred. An eyewitness, a delivery agent, alleged that prompt rescue efforts could have saved the techie. Residents protested, claiming the accident-prone site lacked proper barricades and reflectors.
