Police said the victim survived the initial crash that took place around 11 pm on June 14. But he succumbed to his injuries after waiting for more than eight hours for help in the secluded area; he was spotted by locals around 7.30 am.

The death was a reminder of a similar incident in West Delhi’s Janakpuri in February, which sparked massive outrage, when a 25-year-old call centre employee, Kamal Dhyani, fell into a pit on a stretch where construction work was being undertaken by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

In the latest incident, according to a senior Faridabad Police officer, Joshi was riding from his residence in Faridabad to Noida on Sunday night at a high speed. Unable to see the dead end in the dark, Joshi rode his motorcycle off the paved surface and into a ditch — his helmet suffered damage, which led to injuries.

What spot check revealed

When The Indian Express visited the site on Thursday, no barricades or barriers could be seen, which could have possibly prevented the fall.  Vehicles were seen navigating their way from and towards Noida through unpaved kutcha roads at the immediate end of the bridge.

The site of the incident is surrounded by empty fields.  Labourers and others working in the fields nearby said that part of the unpaved road is only used to take a U-Turn towards the bridge. Cabs and other vehicles heading towards Noida had to cover the site of the incident — many drivers were seen asking for directions, indicating that Google Maps could not guide them properly as a part of the road is incomplete.

Blame game

Joshi’s death seems to have triggered a blame game between the authorities of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana with both sides saying the site of the incident does not fall in their jurisdiction.

Dankaur (UP) Station House Officer Manoj Kumar Singh said both the police case and land (as to the accident spot) are under Haryana authorities. “We only arranged for the postmortem… our role ends there. We have not received any complaint,” he said.

When asked if they have had discussions with their counterparts in Haryana to install barricades at the site after the incident, he said such discussions are ongoing and the decision has to be taken by the authorities in Haryana.

Gautam Buddha Nagar Public Works Department (PWD) Executive Engineer Kanchan Singh said the land and accident spot is all Haryana.  “Nothing happened in our jurisdiction. We have received sanction for the (approach road) work recently and are conducting the pending land acquisition proceedings that is time taking. Yes, there has been slight delay in acquiring as people have to be explained, but we are confident of completing it within a month, and the road within a year. We have told Haryana authorities to do the needful in terms of barriers.”

Meanwhile, Haryana authorities insist their share of work is done. Ballabhgarh Sub-Divisional Magistrate Mayank Bhardwaj said all work from their end is complete. “We have had discussions after the incident with the UP Police and PWD to get the pending safety work done.”

Haryana PWD Executive Engineer Ram Parkash said the state’s work in the stretch was completed one year ago. “Where our border ends we have put mounds of sand to make clear the road ends and should not be used further. Now rest of the work, including safety features etc has to be done by UP. If someone is riding at such a high speed despite those mounds being there, it is bound to happen …”

Tigaon Police’s Station House Officer Inspector Ranbir Singh, who received the information about the body on the morning of June 15, said they have conveyed to the UP police to have barricades installed there. “It is their land and responsibility. Our stretches are complete.”