BENGALURU: It’s been more than 48 hours after the tragedy at Anthem Biosciences Pvt Ltd in Harohalli Industrial Area near Kanakapura, in which three staffers died, but the police have not made any arrests. Also, the reports of blood samples of the deceased sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) may take months to come because of the huge backlog at the lab. This means any likely punishment for possible negligence is a far way off.
The Harohalli police said they were awaiting the post-mortem reports and the opinion of the forensic science experts, who are expected to visit the spot and gather details of what led to the tragedy. “We have booked five people from the management of the firm and we are yet to question them. We will take the investigations forward once we get the reports,” the police said.
Five persons including the CEO & Founder of the company Ajay Bhardwaj have been named as the accused. Raveendra K C, Sanjay Tiwari, Pavan Kumar and Periswamy T are the other accused in the case.
Meanwhile, reports of blood samples sent to FSL in Madiwala, of the three men who died on Tuesday night in a container at a chemical factory in Harohalli after inhaling toxic gases, may take months to come because of the huge backlog that the FSL has, said doctors at Victoria Hospital’s forensic department.
“The lung tissue has been sent to our pathology lab in Victoria Hospital itself to confirm asphyxial changes and diminished oxygen levels,” the doctor from the department of forensic medicine said, adding that it has been confirmed that the deaths were due to asphyxiation.
Lokesh Krishnappa, 31, a resident of Kolar; Saravana Manohar, 24, of Tamil Nadu; and Mahesh Shivamallegowda, 28, a resident of Gothahalli, Kanakapura taluk, died from suffocation while fixing a leak in a container at Anthem Biosciences Pvt Ltd. The fourth person who had entered the tanker, Arivalagan, was discharged from Sagar Hospital on Wednesday, the Harohalli police said. The incident occurred at 10.30 pm on Tuesday night in Unit-2of Anthem. Founder of the company, Ajay Bharadwaj, was unavailable for comment.