Workers death: Labour contractor, manager held for negligence

A contractor and a private labour manager were arrested today on the charge of culpable homicide in connection with the death of two workers on June 11 while cleaning a nullah in Majiwada area of the city, police said.
The contractor Mahalingam Kanda Swamy (55), a resident of suburban Andheri in Mumbai, and the private labour manager Chindraj Ponnapam Boyer (48), a resident of Kopri here, have been apprehended in connection with the death of Raju Kadwa (30) and Kashinath Kathodi (42)," said Kapurbawdi station senior police inspector Sushil Kadam.
The workers drowned while clearing the choked nullah as they did not have any safety gear on them, he said.

"It was found during investigation that the two accused did not provide any safety gear as per the agreement and the negligence from their part led to the death of the workers," the officer said.
He said that as per the terms and condition in the work agreement, the contractor is duty bound to provide proper safety gear which typically includes a life jacket, rope, a mask, a pair of hand gloves, gum boots etc.
"When the bodies of the deceased were fished out, we did not find any of these on them," Kadam said.
The duo were booked under section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and were remanded in police custody for four days, police said.