New Delhi: The Delhi police arrested the manager of Rampal Ashram on Tuesday, following the death of two devotees and the subsequent hospitalisation of a third one after inhaling toxic gases, while cleaning a septic tank in the ashram of controversial jailed godman Rampal in Mundka on Monday.
The arrested man, Shyam Rathi, is said to be a manager at the Ashram. He will be questioned by the police on his alleged role in failing to provide adequate safety equipment to the victims. Mr Makhan hailed from Nepal, while Mr Amar-jeet from a nearby village.
The investigation has so far has shown that no such equipment was provided to them nor was it a trend for the devotees who clean the tanks to take such measures.
The police officer added that so far no responsibility of any civic agency has come to the fore. “The tank was a private one and hence the ashram management is responsible for its upkeep and ensuring that proper safety measures are put in place.
“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,” he added.
Meanwhile, the post mortem of the two deceased devotees was carried out at a local hospital in the city and the bodies were handed over to their families. Deceased Mr Makhan’s family members alleged that there was a significant delay in completing the procedure.
The incident took place at around 4 pm 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 the Mundka police station in connection with the
unfortunate incident.
