CHENNAI:Two workers swooned after they entered a septic tank at a police quarters on Greams Road here on Wednesday, apparently due to inhalation of poisonous gases. They have been admitted to a private hospital and their condition, according to hospital officials, is critical.
Though it is a violation of the ban on manual scavenging, the Thousand Lights police, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, did not file a case until the evening. Police also did not say who engaged the workers.The workers were identified as Kumar, 55, and one Doss, 65.
“A private contractor was engaged to clear the septic tank at the police quarters and three workers arrived around 12 noon. Doss went inside the tank first and he soon became unconscious. Kumar went inside to rescue Doss, but he is also said to have swooned due to the heavy gas,” said a police officer.
The third worker Guru at the site raised an alarm and he and others managed to pull out Kumar using the rope he was tied with. But they could not rescue Doss and alerted fire service. After a struggle of nearly 30 minutes they managed to pull Doss out from 15 ft septic tank and the narrow opening it had. “Since the tank was very narrow, we did not have any equipment to rescue him. We sent a personnel inside with oxygen masks and pulled him out,” said a fire service official.
Both were taken to a private hospital on Greams Road where they were undergoing treatment until Wednesday night. “Both are still in ICU ward and in critical state,” said a hospital source.Popularly called as Mansion Site, the sprawling police quarters was built by Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation. It was not clear who engaged the contractor to clean the septic tank and police were tight-lipped on this.
Man found charred to death in house
Chennai: A 40-year-old man was found charred to death in a rented house at Alandur on Wednesday. Police suspect the victim Mohammed Sultan was assaulted and gagged before being set on fire. Sultan was a native of Panruti in Cuddalore district and was staying in the house on MKN Road for the last few months. On Wednesday around 3 pm, people noticed heavy smoke from the building and alerted the fire service. Sultan’s hands and legs were found tied.
Man poses as cop, held
Chennai: Police arrested a 33-year-old man for posing as a police personnel and trying to get money from a couple at Egmore on Tuesday night. A police official said that a woman called the control room on Tuesday night and said a person calling himself a policeman was interrogating her boyfriend, Moses (23) while they were simply chatting. A police team found the suspect talking to Moses at a bus stop on Ethiraj Salai. He was trying to negotiate a bribe of `1,000 instead of slapping a ‘fine’. On seeing a police vehicle, he escaped on his bike and a police team chased him and nabbed him near Pantheon road. The arrested person was identified as Nizam Mohammed Batcha (33), an electrician from B V Koil Street.
25 sovereigns stolen from goldsmith’s home
Chennai: Gold weighing 25 sovereigns were stolen from a house of a goldsmith at Triplicane on Tuesday. Vijayakumar (64) of Swami Pillai Street was a goldsmith. Recently he had received an order from a shop and had kept 170 sovereigns of gold coins and jewels in his cupboard. On Wednesday, when he woke up he found the cupboard open and around 25 sovereign of gold missing. A complaint was filed with Ice House police.