Contractor gets 3 day police custody in MIDC Butibori sewage deaths case

Nagpur: A local court on Sunday remanded contractor Gaurav Puri to three days of police custody in connection with the suffocation deaths of two contract workers inside a sewage chamber at MIDC Butibori.Police told the court they need time to collect certified documents related to Puri's contract with MIDC and employment records of the labourers engaged by him. Investigators also plan to seize registers and records of work executed by the contractor over the past year.Police stressed that no mandatory safety measures for sewer cleaning were found at the site. Investigators are also examining Puri's prior experience in confined-space operations and whether other parties were involved in the contract.The incident on Saturday claimed the lives of Prashant Manuje and Rahul Madavi, while another worker, Suresh Patekar, remains critical. All three had entered the clogged sewage chamber near Plot K-3 on the contractor's instructions.Additional SP Anil Mhaske said the contractor allegedly forced the workers into the hazardous chamber without protective equipment.Senior officials from MIDC and the labour department also visited the site and initiated a parallel inquiry into the safety lapses.Officials said the workers were sent in without basic protective gear, including gas masks, oxygen support or ventilation systems. They were quickly overwhelmed by toxic fumes from the stagnant sewage. Rescue teams later broke open the chamber to pull them out.