Two sanitation workers were asphyxiated when they were cleaning a septic tank at a private school in Minjur in Tiruvallur district on Monday.
The death of the two workers on May Day has created sorrow among the sanitation workers of the town panchayat. The Minjur police arrested the correspondent of the private school and the contractor who hired the workers.
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The police said Emmanuel Matriculation Higher Secondary School located in Netaji Nagar of Minjur town panchayat had engaged two sanitation workers — Govindan and Subburayulu — for cleaning the septic tank.
A contractor had engaged them for the job. The two entered the septic tank around noon and were cleaning it when they fell unconscious after inhaling poisonous gas, the police said. Immediately, the Minjur Fire and Rescue Services personnel rushed to the spot and removed the bodies. The two bodies were sent to the Minjur Government Hospital for post-mortem.
Joint Commissioner of Police Vijayakumar inspected the site. Later, the police arrested Simeone C. Victor, correspondent of the private school, and the contractor.
The Minjur Police have filed a case against the correspondent of the school under Sections of 304 and 325 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Prohibition of Manual Scavenging Act, 2013.
