Daijiworld Media Network - Idukki

Idukki, Feb 17: A 28-year-old man lost his life in Kerala’s Idukki district after his motorcycle went out of control and plunged into an open roadside pit, triggering public outrage and drawing parallels with the recent death of Yuvraj Mehta in Noida.

The victim, identified as Jaice Benny, met with the fatal accident on Monday night. CCTV footage from a nearby camera captured the moment when he suddenly lost control of his motorcycle and fell into a pit dug years ago for a culvert project that was never completed.

Locals rushed to the spot and shifted the severely injured youth to a nearby hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries.

The incident has sparked anger among residents, who alleged negligence on the part of local authorities for failing to fill the pit despite the stalled culvert work. Many held the authorities responsible for the tragic death, stating that repeated inaction had turned the abandoned pit into a death trap.

The accident has revived memories of last month’s tragedy in Noida’s Sector 150, where software engineer Yuvraj Mehta, employed with Dunnhumby in Gurugram, died after his car — a Grand Vitara — fell into a water-filled pit while he was returning home from work. Despite prolonged rescue efforts conducted in the presence of his father and police personnel, he could not be saved.

In the Noida case, police had registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by Mehta’s family and initiated a probe into alleged negligence.

Residents in Idukki have now demanded immediate action to prevent similar incidents, urging authorities to identify and secure hazardous open pits and incomplete infrastructure works across the district.