Man drowns in open drain, cops say he was drunk

NOIDA: The body of a 40-year-old man was found floating in an open drain filled with water and muck at the Sector 22-25 crossing on Friday afternoon, with police saying he could have fallen into it under the influence of alcohol.
Deepak Nandlal’s is the second death in three days after drowning in an open drain in Noida, the other being that of Radio Mirchi executive Tania Khanna early on Wednesday. The death of Tania, whose car had nosedived into an open drain in Sector 85, has prompted the Noida Authority to swing into action and announce that the drains would be cleaned by May 15. A National Green Tribunal, however, bars the Authority from covering the drains.

Police said it seemed Deepak, a resident of H block in Sector 22, had fallen into the drain in an inebriated condition on Thursday night. According to his family, he had had a few drinks along with his brother Harish on Thursday night and then left home.

Deepak, who lived with his wife and two daughters, aged 10 and 12, had lost his job at a private company six months ago. Since then, he had been working as a gardener at people’s homes in the area.

His family said Deepak’s younger brother Harish, who lives in Khoda Colony, had visited them on Thursday night. “The two brothers spoke to each other for some time, and then had a few drinks together. Both of them left home at 11pm without informing anybody,” a relative said.

Deepak, who was clad in his usual shorts and a vest, did not even change clothes before going out, which suggested he didn’t intend to go far. He, however, left his phone behind.

The family did not sense anything amiss as both brothers would drink often in the evening. They, however, started worrying when Deepak did not return home late in the night and could not be reached as he had left his phone back.

Deepak’s wife approached police on Friday morning when she learnt that her husband had not accompanied his brother Harish to his home in Khoda. Around 2pm, some sanitation workers cleaning the 10ft-deep open drain at the Sector 22-25 crossing found the body half submerged under a heap of muck and garbage. The police were informed.

Dharmedra Kumar, a senior sub-inspector at Sector 58 police station, said the body has been sent for an autopsy and the reports were awaited. “There are no external injury marks on his body. We questioned his brother but did not get any evidence about his involvement. It seems the man fell into the drain in an inebriated condition and drowned,” he said.

Deepak’s family members have not filed any police complaint in this regard. Sunita, his wife, said she was too shattered and did not want any investigation.