(This article is authored by Alar) 

Chennai Police have arrested two men in connection with the death of two sewage workers who died while cleaning a septic tank in Thoraipakkam. The arrest has come two days after the death of the workers and a case was registered with this regard under appropriate sections. 

According to reports, the victims were identified as Periyasamy and Dhatchanamoorthy, both 38 years old. They had died after they inhaled poisonous gas while cleaning a septic tank in a gated community named Plaza Green Acres in Perungudi in OMR, Chennai. Both Periyasamy and Dhatchanamoorthy were employed by a cleaning company in Thoraipakkam. They were employed by the company for the past five years.

On June 29, they visited the Plaza Green Acres to clean the septic tank. At around 6.30 pm on June 29, Periyasamy and Dhatchanamoorthy opened a tank in Block B of the community. It has been reported that Periyasamy entered the tank without wearing safety gear and in some moments, he collapsed inside the tank after inhaling the toxic gas. After seeing that Periyasamy got fainted inside the tank, Dhatchanamoorthy entered the tank to rescue the former. 

However, Dhatchanamoorthy also collapsed and after the development, Fire and Rescue Services rushed to the spot and while Periyasamy was declared dead on the spot, Dhatchanamoorthy was taken to a private hospital. However, he breathed his last at around 8.30 pm on June 29. After the death, the Thoraipakkam police have registered a case under section 336 - negligent act endangering human life of the Indian Penal Code and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as well as under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavenger and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. 

The police have arrested two people in connection with the case - S Saravanan, a supervisor with the cleaning company and S Krishnan, the apartment's secretary. This incident got a profound lookout as it happened days after the death of 26-year-old man Nelson, who died due to asphyxiation while cleaning a sewer pipeline in Madhavaram.