A 17-year-old boy, who was employed illegally as a contract employee with the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), died of asphyxiation while opening a valve at an underground chamber on Cubbon Road on Tuesday night.
Commercial Street police have registered a case against three BWSSB engineers for homicide and under various sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
Despite being underage, the victim had allegedly been hired by Navodaya Service Centre, a company that provides contract employees to BWSSB. Mohan joined as valve man in May this year, and worked at the Halasuru unit.
On Tuesday night, when he went to open the water valve around 9.30 p.m. in a five-ft deep chamber, he started frothing and fell unconscious. He was pulled out and taken to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
He had allegedly not been provided with any safety gear despite the fact that it was doing a high-risk job. His father, Varadappa, who filed a complaint with the police, said forcing a minor to do such a high-risk job without providing any safety gear was a serious crime. A case has also been registered against the agency.
“We will summon the concerned BWSSB officials for questioning based on which action will be taken,” a police officer said.
