AGRA: A 45-year-old doctor, Rajeev Kumar Gupta, died on Sunday after falling into an open pit dug by the municipal corporation workers to lay underground a pipeline in Aligarh.
The deceased’s wife, Rashmi Gupta, said her husband had gone out to buy milk when the tragedy happened around 6 am. He fell into a 4-ft-deep pit, she said in the FIR. The CCTV footage of the incident also shows that he slipped after losing his balance while trying to take out his bike that had got stuck on the broken road.
Locals rushed him to hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Police have registered an FIR under IPC against six persons, including the municipal commissioner, mayor and irrigation department officials on the basis of a complaint filed by Gupta family at Sasni Gate police station.
Locals staged a protest against the civic body, accusing it of gross negligence while carrying out digging of the roads across the city and not repairing them properly, thus posing a risk to the lives of people.
The deceased’s relative, Madhubala Gupta, an RSS office bearer in Aligarh, said the civic body workers filled up the open pits after the accident to save themselves. “Such incidents can happen with anyone. Police should have taken action against civic body workers,” she said. The government should provide financial help to the family, along with a job to the deceased’s kin, as the family is not economically sound, she added.
City magistrate Vineet Kumar said Gupta died due to head injuries after falling into the pit. Gupta is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.