NOIDA: A delivery agent, who reached the accident site after a 27-year-old software engineer’s car fell into a water-filled deep pit in Greater Noida, on Sunday said he himself jumped into the pit in a desperate attempt to help the victim when he saw rescue workers struggling.Moninder, the delivery agent, said he arrived at the accident site in Sector 150 around 1:45 am on Saturday. He alleged that the rescue personnel were initially hesitant to enter the pit due to the cold water, poor visibility, and exposed iron rods at the construction site.

“I tied a rope around my waist and went into the water myself. I searched for the youth and his car for around 30 minutes,” Moninder told reporters, adding that he was later told that “if help had reached 10 minutes earlier, the techie could have been saved”.He said Mehta was initially seen standing on the roof of his car, using his mobile phone torch to signal passers-by and plead for help.Moninder added that the same ditch had previously been the site of another accident, when locals rescued a truck driver using ropes and a ladder.Police, however, dismissed claims of negligence. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajeev Narayan Mishra said both police and fire teams had deployed a crane, ladder, makeshift boat, and searchlights to save the youth, but visibility was nearly zero due to fog.According to Knowledge Park police, a report was received around 12:15 am that a car had fallen into a pit dug for the basement of an under-construction building near Sector 150.After a search operation lasting over five hours, the body was recovered on Saturday morning with the assistance of the fire department, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and local police teams.Mehta’s father, Raj Kumar Mehta, recounted his last conversation with his son and demanded accountability, calling the incident a result of negligence at the site.“I spoke to him shortly before the accident. He told me he was on his way home,” the grieving father said. “A little later, he called again in panic and said his car had met with an accident and fallen into a drain. He asked me to come immediately.” Sensing the urgency, he rushed to the spot. “Police were called and some people nearby also tried to help, but nothing could be done to save my son,” he said.The father said when he reached the spot, he again called his son but could not locate the vehicle as the visibility was low.“Somehow, when I called him, he opened the torchlight of his phone inside the car because of which we could see a faint little light from the water body. But it was so difficult for anybody to get inside the water body. Police and other rescue officials tried throwing a rope, but to no avail,” he told reporters.The father also said that if expert divers had been deployed earlier, his son might have been saved.(With agency inputs)