A day after three men died of asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank in a piggery at Keeranatham, the piggery's owner was arrested on Friday.
According to the police, N. Subramaniam, 70, was arrested on Friday afternoon and will be remanded under judicial custody. A case was booked on Thursday afternoon by the Kovilpalayam police against the owner under Sections 284 (Negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance) and 304 (A) (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections 7 and 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
The piggery, which housed 30 pigs, was sealed by the Block Development Officer and Tahsildar of Annur on Thursday.
The postmortem of the victims – V. Rajappan, 45, P. Vediappan, 36, and another P. Vediappan, 27, – was concluded on Friday evening, according to the police.
On Thursday, Subramaniam asked six people, including the three deceased, to clean the septic tank. As Rajappan fainted during the cleaning process after inhaling poisonous gas, Vediappan, 36, and Vediappan, 27, to rescue him, leading to all three dying in the tank.
