On Delhi's Signature Bridge: Dangling metal rope falls on biker, pierces his chest

NEW DELHI: Pranav Mishra (25) would have celebrated his second wedding anniversary on Friday had a dangling

metal rope

of

Signature Bridge

not

fallen

on him and

pierced

his

chest

when he was

returning

home on a

bike

late Wednesday.

An initial probe has revealed that the metal rope, weighing 50-60kg, was rolled up at the top of the bridge tower. Strong winds had loosened its binding and it fell on the road, the police said. Because of its weight, the rope broke Mishra’s helmet, hit his head and pierced the heart, claimed a relative.

While the family members are yet to hear from the government or any agency about whose negligence had caused the death, the police are questioning the contractors and labourers at the site.

Mishra and his elder brother, Madan, were helping the family sustain for the past two years as their parents had to undergo treatment for various ailments. The family shifted from Bihar’s Bhagalpur to the Sonia Vihar colony 20 years ago after Mishra’s father took up a job with a contractor. “We are left without a huge support for the family,” said his mother, Suman.

Mishra’s wife, Sapna, who was planning a simple celebration, has virtually locked herself in. “She had invited some relatives who are now mourning with us,” said Madan.

Mishra had taken up the job of an electrician after completing a course from an ITI in Sonia Vihar. “Within a few months, he was made the head electrician at the factory. He was respected there. He also worked part time at a electrical shop and used to return home late,” said Madan.

The victim had called and asked his mother around 11.30pm to ready his roti and vegetables. “He told me that he was driving on Signature Bridge and would be home in 10 minutes. But he never came,” lamented Suman.

The family realised only around 3am that he hadn’t reached home as Suman had dozed off. “If I stayed awake, his fate would have been different.” The family has appealed to the government for compensation.

DCP (northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur said a case of causing death due to negligence had been registered. “We had received a call from the control room about a man getting pierced by a wire.” Mishra’s bike was found near the central verge while the wire was found a few metres away.

A senior Gammon official claimed a metal rope had fallen due to the storm on late Wednesday evening but was removed soon. “The body was found at least 30 metre from that spot. No construction work was going on anywhere in the vicinity,” he said, requesting anonymity.

If something had fallen on the bike, the rider would have lost his balance and the vehicle would have skidded, he pointed out. “But his bike was found parked there. It is still not known how the biker exactly died,” the official said.

Read this report in Bengali