Sewer death in Jahangirpuri: Three held for negligence

New Delhi: Three men have been arrested for alleged negligence in connection with the death of a man inside a sewer in north west Delhi's Jahangirpuri, police said Wednesday.

Aslam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) said the three men arrested are project manager Ashwini Kumar Jha, site supervisor Subodh and safety officer Subham Notiyal.

Cops will also question senior officers of the company which was awarded the contract for maintenance of the sewer by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), said another officer.

On Sunday, 32-year-old Dooman Ray drowned after he entered a sewer for cleaning it.

Police said that Ray was accompanied by three other men who were supposed to pull him out when he opened a valve and water came gushing out; but they could not do so in the time leading to Ray's death.

They further said that more manpower should have been present at the spot for Ray's assistance.

Cops may also contact DJB to study the terms and conditions of the contract between them and the company tasked with sewer maintenance.

"Delhi Jal Board had given the contract to M/s KK Spun India Ltd for repair and rehabilitation of sewerage in Jahangirpuri," Additional DCP (North West) AK Lal had earlier told reporters.

A case under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, read with sections 7 and 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, had been registered by cops on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Ray's family took his body to his native place in Bihar after the post-mortem, police said on Wednesday.

Sunday's sewer mishap was not the first to be reported this year in the Capital. In September, a man died after he entered a manhole for cleaning in Dwarka district.

In the same month, five men died after they entered a sewage treatment plant for maintenance work in west Delhi's Moti Nagar area.

In 2017, a 48-year-old man died while cleaning a sewer inside the premises of LNJP Hospital.