A day after a sweeper and a security guard died of toxic gases while cleaning a sewer in a colony in Mundka area, their family sought justice while asking who allowed him to go down the manhole?”
The deceased have been identified as 32-year-old Rohit Chandilya and security guard Ashok (30). Chandilya worked as a private sweeper in a colony at Bakkarwala and Ashok as security guard in DDA flats.
On Friday late evening, the bodies of both the men had to be pulled out with the help from the fire brigade, as efforts to extract them manually by the colony residents had failed.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Satish Kumar said that Chandilya was the husband of his younger sister.“On Friday evening, I got a call that Chadiliya had died after entering the septic tank. When I reached the spot, I got to know that he had died due to inhaling poisonous gas,” said Kumar.
“He used to work as a sweeper under one Chandan Kumar Mishra. We want to ask why he went inside the sewer and who asked him or gave him permission to go. We have no idea for how long he was inside the hole,” Kumar said.“Chandiliya was the only sole breadwinner for his wife and two-year-old son. He used to live in a rented accommodation. Now what will happen to his family members? Justice should be delivered to his family,” Kumar said.
Police got a call at 3.43 pm on Friday informing them that a man had fallen inside a sewer in Pocket-D of Lok Nayak Puram, Bakkarwala. They reached the spot, Highway Apartment, and found two men lying unconscious in a sewer.
There was a complaint of sewer blockage in the society and Chandilya was the first one to go down the sewer. But as soon as he inhaled the toxic fumes inside, he fainted and fell down. To rescue him, Ashok too went inside but he also fell unconscious.
They were taken to a hospital where they both were declared brought dead. A post mortem was conducted on Saturday and their bodies were handed over to their family members. A case under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC has been registered, said police. A senior police officer said that investigation is in an initial stage.
The culprits behind the incident are being identified.