Four people died while cleaning an old water tank at an under-construction house in Assam’s Cachar district on Friday, police said, adding that the property owner has been detained as part of the investigation.
Event Context
Team Analysis
The incident happened at an unconstructed house in the Kumarpara Joynagar area on the outskirts of Silchar town on Friday afternoon. Police said that four persons were rescued after being found unconscious inside the tank but were declared dead on arrival at Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH).
“Prima facie suggests that they died of suffocation or lack of oxygen inside the tank, but we can only ascertain the cause of death once the postmortem report comes,” said additional superintendent of police (crime), Cachar district, Rajat Pal. The bodies were sent for postmortem at SMCH, he added.
Police identified the deceased as Niloy Paul (43), Champu Paul (40), Debashis Paul (41) and Nandan Paul (53), all from the Kumarpara area.
“They initially called for help but it was not easy to reach out there. Niloy came forward because he sensed that they might be suffocating but he accidentally fell inside and died too,” local Zila Parishad president Farida Pervin said.
A team of police, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and officials from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) helped in the rescue operation.
Locals protested in the area, saying that the owner of the property was responsible as the workers were sent inside the tank without proper safety measures.
“If proper safety measures were availed, this would not have happened. Four families have lost their loved ones and this happened because of the negligence by the owner who involved them in this work,” locals said.
Additional SP Pal said that they have registered a complaint and started an investigation. They have also detained the owner, identified as Gautam Paul. The district administration officials said that they are also investigating the matter further.
Match Outlook
Shamin Ahmed from DDMA, Cachar, said that they are preparing a detailed report, which will be sent to the higher authorities so that the families get compensation on existing grounds.
source
According to locals, Champu, Debashis and Nandan were daily-wage labourers who had been engaged by the property owner for the cleaning work and accidentally got stuck after entering the tank.
