New Delhi [India], January 20 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday reacted strongly to the death of a Noida-based techie, calling it a grim reflection of a growing culture of greed and disregard for human life in India.
Linking environmental degradation, failing infrastructure and social apathy to the tragedy, Gandhi, in a video message on X, said the manner in which society responds to such suffering will define the values it upholds and the kind of future it chooses to build.
"The culture of greed and disrespect towards other living beings is being propagated in India. The air we breathe, the water we are forced to drink and the crumbling infrastructure around us are the consequences of this greed. Yuvraj Mehta's death is a direct consequence of this culture," Rahul Gandhi said.
"How we react to his death, how we react to the pain of other people, how we react to the suffering of other people, is going to determine the type of society we live in. What one needs to understand is that the direct consequence of treating other people badly is that you will be treated badly," said the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition.
A 27-year-old man lost his life after his car broke through the boundary of a drain and fell into water near the Sector-150 intersection under the jurisdiction of Knowledge Park Police Station in Greater Noida, police said on January 18.
The victim's family has alleged gross administrative negligence, claiming that timely intervention could have saved his life as he struggled for two hours. The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of the Knowledge Park Police Station on the night of January 16-17.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday removed M Lokesh, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Noida and Managing Director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC).
The postmortem report of the Noida techie who died after his car plunged into the drain in Greater Noida's Sector 150 area, revealed the cause of death to be "asphyxia due to antemortem drowning followed by cardiac arrest".
Earlier today, the Noida Police arrested Abhay Singh, the CEO of real estate firm MZ Wiztown Planners, in connection with the case. Following his arrest, the MZ Wiztown Planners CEO was presented in court, which granted one day of judicial custody. The police will present the builder in court again tomorrow.
The Uttar Pradesh government has also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the whole incident.
SIT head, Bhanu Bhaskar, who visited the incident spot along with the team, stated that they will submit their investigation report within five days.
"SIT has been formed to investigate this case. We have had discussions with the officials and the deceased's family members. The investigation has just started. We will present the report after 5 days of investigation," Bhaskar told reporters.