Three labourers died due to asphyxiation in Lajpat Nagar on Sunday afternoon, after they went inside a DJB sewer line to clean it. (Representational Image)
The Delhi Police on Tuesday served a notice to the chief engineer at Delhi Jal Board’s Lajpat Nagar zone, asking him to provide detailed answers to 25 questions. A hunt is on to nab Dinesh — the contractor who had allegedly hired the sanitation workers to manually clean the sewers where three of them died — with several police teams conducting raids. DCP (southeast) Romil Baaniya said they have served a notice and are now awaiting the details. “We have served a notice to the chief engineer of DJB, Lajpat Nagar zone, and asked several questions related to our investigation into the incident. Our teams are also conducting raids to arrest Dinesh, who is absconding,” he said.
Three labourers died due to asphyxiation in Lajpat Nagar on Sunday afternoon, after they went inside a DJB sewer line to clean it. The labourers were exposed to ‘toxic gases’ inside the sewer. Sources said that in its notice, the Delhi Police has asked the chief engineer to provide details of their contract procedure, and also information on who is responsible in such circumstances. “A team from Lajpat Nagar visited the DJB’s office on Tuesday, but they were not satisfied with their answers. After failing to get required details, they decided to serve notice to them,” sources said. While DJB has maintained that the three men, who died inside the sewer, were neither employed nor associated with it, an FIR registered Monday suggested otherwise.
According to the FIR, the four labourers, three of whom died, were asked to work by a contractor of the DJB. The FIR was registered based on the statement by one of the labourers, Rakesh, the lone survivor.
