Bihar labourer killed after falling in Delhi manhole was returning home in Bihar after a year

New Delhi: For 32-year-old Birju Kumar, Monday was meant to be a day of homecoming. After a year of hard labour as a carpenter in Delhi, he had collected his wages, bought new clothes for his three children and preparing to board a train to Bihar for his wife's medical treatment.

Instead, a walk through a vacant plot in Rohin's Sector-32 turned fatal when he slipped into an uncovered manhole. His body was recovered from a sewer on the DDA land on Tuesday afternoon, ending the hopes of a family that relied entirely on his monthly earnings of Rs 13,000.

The police were informed about the fall the same day at 2.36 pm.

His death leaves behind an elderly mother, his wife and three children all under the age of five. His father passed away when he was three years old.

Sunil Kumar, a friend who lent Birju Rs 1,500 for his journey, said the carpenter had been supporting his family since childhood following his father's early death. "Now there is no one else to support his family," Kumar told PTI.

According to his friends, Birju had gone to a market in Begampur with another labourer on Monday morning to prepare for his trip. While returning, he allegedly slipped and fell into the open manhole.

"Only God knows what happened. The person who was with him initially claimed Birju was kidnapped and started crying. We didn't take it seriously at first, thinking he might have gone somewhere and would return by morning," Sunil said.

The next morning, Sunil said he received a call that Birju's phone was not reachable and he was missing. It was only on Tuesday afternoon that the man clarified Birju had fallen into the manhole "We called the police, rushed there and found Birju's slippers floating on the water," he said. The body was recovered after a three-hour operation involving water pumps and safety chains.

Sunil alleged that the death was a direct result of official negligence, stating that the labourer would still be alive if the manhole had been properly covered.

Begampur Police has registered a case under sections 285 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation) and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

"We have filed an FIR against unknown persons. We are also investigating the matter and checking CCTV footage to track the movement of Birju and his friend. All angles are being examined," Additional Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Rajeev Ranjan said.

The incident comes close on the heels of the death of a 25-year-old private bank employee who fell into a pit allegedly dug by the Delhi Jal Board in west Delhi’s Janakpuri area.