A 55-year-old labourer died of asphyxiation while cleaning a water sump in Rana Singhpete in Cottonpete on Saturday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Vediyappan alias Palani, a resident of Annepalya. He used to clean water sumps at houses to earn a living.
On Saturday, he along with two of his associates went to clean the sump in a house in Ranasinghpete, belonging to Mansoor Khan. The trio opened the sump and Palani got down into the sump which had little water. He lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen in the sump. Fearing something had gone wrong, his associates fled the spot.
After a while, Khan, who noticed that no one was around cleaning the sump, peeped inside and found Palani lying motionless. He alerted the neighbours, who helped Khan to shift Palani to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Khan had kept the sump closed for a long time.
The Cottonpete police have arrested Mansoon Khan under death due to negligence and are further investigating.
