The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested the manager of an ashram headed by jailed godman Rampal in Outer Delhi for alleged negligence, a day after two of the godman’s followers died and another was hospitalised after inhaling toxic gases while manually cleaning a septic tank there.
Police said that Shyam Rathi will be questioned on his alleged role in failing to provide adequate safety equipment to the deceased, Makhan Lal and Amarjeet, and the third victim, Mukesh.
The probe so far has revealed that no safety equipment was provided to them.
A police officer said that no responsibility of any civic agency has come to the fore.
‘Private tank’
“The tank was a private one and hence the ashram management is responsible for the upkeep and ensuring that proper safety measures are in place,” he added.
“We are still in the probe stage and will verify if any agency was entrusted with carrying out periodic safety inspections before completely ruling anything out,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the post mortem of the deceased was carried out at a hospital here and the bodies were handed over to their families.
Held for negligence
Makhan’s family has alleged that there was a significant delay in the procedure. Makhan hailed from Nepal.
The incident took place around 4 p.m. on Monday and the police claimed that the men had asphyxiated to death after inhaling some toxic gases.
A case of death and injury due to negligence was registered at Mundka police station.