CHENNAI: Three men involved in cleaning a septic tank at a private resort in Sriperumbudur in Kancheepuram district died of asphyxiation early on Friday. The victims, Ranganathan, 51, Naveen Kumar, 30, and Thirumalai, 18, were all Schedule Caste community members from Katchipedu village in Kancheepuram district.
While resort manager Murali and contractor Rajini were arrested on Friday, the resort owner, Sathyamoorthy, is on the run, police said. “Around 11am, the three entered the 5,000-litre-capacity septic tank one after another. As they did not come out of the tank, a fourth worker, Kumar, raised an alarm,” said M Sudhakar, Superintendent of Police, Kancheepuram district.
Sriperumbudur fire and rescue services personnel who rushed to the spot retrieved the bodies. Police later sent the bodies to Sriperumbudur GH for postmortem. Ranganathan is survived by his wife and two children and Naveen Kumar is survived by his wife and a toddler. Thirumalai got married three weeks ago, police said.
Relatives of the victims and villagers of Katchipedu gathered outside the resort and protested against the management. About 50 police personnel were deployed and senior police officers held talks with the protesters. Sriperumbudur MLA K Selvaperunthagai visited the bereaved families.
The Sriperumbudur police registered a case under IPC sections 336 and 304 (a) (causing death due to negligence) and Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenger and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
Compensation of Rs 10L each for the victims
Case was also booked under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Speaking to TNIE, M Aarathi, Kancheepuram District Collector, said, “We will get Rs 10 lakh compensation for each of the victims from the resort owner and Rs 12 lakh each will be paid by the government. The Rs 12 lakh will be paid in two installments.
We will first send a proposal to the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department and it will be sent to the government for consideration. Also, based on the suggestions we receive from the department, employment for the families of the victims or land will be arranged.”