The victim, Madhu Ram, died on the spot. (Representational)A 21-year-old labourer died after getting caught in a plastic bottle crusher machine operating inside a house in south Delhi’s Asola, police said. The victim, Madhu Ram, died on the spot. Police have arrested the owner of the unit, Manish Kumar Gupta, who they allege was running the unit without proper licences.
“No safety was in place, which is why we arrested him under section 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 304-(A) (causing death by negligence) of the IPC at Maidan Garhi police station. The unit had three machines,” said DCP (South) Vijay Singh.
Police said machine parts were uncased in the unit and added that the labourers, who were untrained to operate the machinery, were made to work without any protective gear like gloves, boots or face masks.
Meanwhile, a former worker alleged that at least three employees left the job after sustaining cuts. Dhruv, who now works in an electric parts unit, said, “I almost severed a finger of my right hand. I do not want to become unemployed as I have a young daughter. There were at least two other workers who almost lost their fingers. They were taken to a local hospital and bandaged,” claimed Dhruv.
It is learnt that Ram had left the job at the unit but returned a month before Holi as he failed to find work back home in UP’s Lakhimpur. Police said at the time, only two workers were employed at the unit, which had been operating for a year. The body was taken to Safdarjung mortuary for post-mortem.
Officers will write to civic agencies for documentation.
