An official of a housing society in Govandi has been arrested in connection with the death of three labourers while cleaning a septic tank in the residential highrise, a police official said on Tuesday.
The labourers, hired privately, died of suffocation on Monday while they were cleaning the septic tank in Maurya Society, a 22-storey building of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, located in Ganeshwadi.
Following the mishap, the society’s treasurer, Pawan Vishwanath Palav (40), was arrested late Monday night, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VI) Shashikumar Meena said.
Mr. Palav was arrested after it came to light that he hired labourers who did not have any experience of cleaning a septic tank, another police official said.
“The accused asked the labourers to enter the septic tank without providing them any safety gear. The accused was not present at the spot when the victims were cleaning the tank,” he said.
The accused has been booked under Section 304-A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, Mr. Meena said.
After the three labourers — Bisavjit Debnath (32), Santosh Prabhakar Kalsekar (45), and Govind Sangram Chortiya (34) — entered the septic tank on Monday, they got trapped inside.
The labourers were later brought out of the tank with the help of fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force personnel who rushed them to a hospital where they were declared dead on arrival, he said.
