Two killed while cleaning STP pit at sweet-making unit in Dabaspet

Police suspect that they died inhaling poisonous gasses in the STP pit

Two contract labourers, who had been working at a sweet-making unit of the Bengaluru-based reputed sweet store Asha Sweets Centre for the past two days, were killed when they got into a sewage treatment plant (STP) to clean it on the outskirts of the city in Kempohalli, Dabaspet, on Thursday night.

The deceased have been identified as Lingaraju, 26, hailing from Madhugiri, Tumakuru district and Naveen, 26, hailing from Ananthapur district, Andhra Pradesh. Both were related to each other. The two were working with JRR Aqua Pvt Ltd, which had got a subcontract for the maintenance of the STP at Asha Sweets Centre, FIR said.

They were trying to clean the STP. Sources said Naveen first got into the STP pit, which was around 18 feet deep. He soon started coughing, suffocating, and screaming for help. Lingaraju also got into the pit to save him and pull him out. However, in a short span of time, both went silent. They were later pulled out of the pit by the Fire and Emergency Services. They were dead by then. Police suspect that they died inhaling poisonous gasses in the STP pit.

C.K. Baba, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural District, who visited the spot on Thursday night, said that preliminary investigation suggests that neither prescribed norms for the STP nor the standard operating procedure to clean it were followed. “The two who got into the 18-foot-deep pit to clean the STP were not given any safety gear. We have booked both the owner of Asha Sweets and the contractor who was incharge for the deaths,” he said.

A case has been registered under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023 and The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 against four accused - Ramesh, owner of JRR Aqua Pvt Ltd, Mayur, owner of Asha Sweets Centre, the safety in charge of JRR Aqua Pvt Ltd and safety in charge of Asha Sweets Centre.

Published - November 01, 2024 09:00 pm IST