Bengaluru: A day after two workers died cleaning a septic tank of a restaurant here, two BBMP officials were arrested by the police on Wednesday.
Ramu (35) and Ravi (28), who were hired to clean the tank had asphyxiated inside on Tuesday evening. The BBMP officials were arrested after it was found that the restaurant, Yumlok, was illegally operating from the basement of a building in Bengaluru's HAL police station limits.
“It is a commercial building. The basement is meant for parking. They did not have the license to run the restaurant there,” said HAL police.
According to the police, the incident took place around 4 pm on Tuesday. The waste from the restaurant was being collected in the sewage tank from the past six months, which led to the drain being clogged.
The two, who hailed from Raichur, were hired to clean the waste for Rs 3,500. Ramu who had gone inside called for help when he started suffocating. Ravi, who had gone in to help the former, also suffocated from the toxic gas. The two were taken out by rescue officials but were declared brought dead to the hospital.
This is the second such incident this year in Bengaluru. In January, three people had died while cleaning a septic tank in HSR layout.
The hotel manager Ayush Gupta and caretaker Venkatesh were arrested on the same day, while BBMP Senior Health Inspector Devaraj and Deputy Health Officer Kalpana were arrested the next day.
All the four have been charged under sections of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act and have been remanded until February 28.
The owner of the restaurant Avinash Gupta is absconding, said the police.
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