Septic tank deaths: Four of Ghazipur banquet hall arrested

Lokesh and Prem Chand died after they entered the septic tank of the Pearl Grand Emperor banquet hall to clean it.

Delhi Police on Saturday said they have arrested two directors, a housekeeping in-charge and the general manager of a banquet hall in east Delhi’s Ghazipur, where two men, both catering labourers, had allegedly suffocated to death while cleaning a septic tank on Thursday.

Police said the housekeeping in-charge of the banquet knew one of the two labourers and had asked the duo to get inside the tank and clean it. (File Photo)

Police said the housekeeping in-charge of the banquet knew one of the two labourers and had asked the duo to get inside the tank and clean it.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Deepak Yadav confirmed that the police have arrested housekeeping in-charge Rahul (single name), general manager Amir Khan, directors Jimmy Arora and Girish (single name). They have all been booked under section 304A of the Indian Penal Code for causing death due to negligence and under section 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenger and Their Rehabilitation Act.

“The banquet hall was run by a firm where Jimmy Arora is a director. Preliminary enquiry has revealed that Rahul, knew one of the labourers, Lokesh Kumar. It was Lokesh who had brought along Prem Chand, as they both lived in Trilokpuri and had known each other. We have also invoked the SC/ST Act in the case,” the DCP said.

Both Lokesh and Prem Chand died from asphyxiation on Thursday night after they entered the septic tank of the Pearl Grand Emperor banquet hall to clean it. The duo had been promised a sum of ₹1,500 each for the job.

Lokesh’s brother-in-law, Deepak Kumar, said he knew Rahul. “Rahul was a distant relative of Lokesh. They were cousins and belonged to the same village in Uttar Pradesh. Rahul often used to call Lokesh for catering work and other jobs at the banquet hall and at other places. It was on his pursuance that the two entered the tank on Thursday. Though they were inexperienced, they had been threatened of a wage cut if they did not clean the tank. All the arrested men are responsible for my brother-in-law’s death and they must be punished,” said Deepak, who is a sanitation worker.

Following the news of the death of the two labourers, members of Delhi sanitation workers unions and family members and relatives of the deceased had gathered outside the banquet hall on Friday and staged a protest demanding immediate arrest of the owner and the housekeeping manager.

The chairman of the union, Sanjay Gehlot, who had visited Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital — where the two bodies were kept for autopsy — on Friday said that despite the government providing machines to clean septic tanks and sewers, people still use labourers, as it is a cheaper option. “It is cruelty. The workers were not given any safety equipment or protective gear. We demand adequate compensation for the families of the two men. Those responsible must be brought to justice,” Gehlot said.