Gurugram: Three buried in 15-foot-deep pit while walking home

GURUGRAM: A 168-km-long journey back home to their native place in Uttar Pradesh ended tragically for three labourers, who were found buried under soil in a 15-foot-deep pit dug up for construction of a power sub- station at Sakatpur in Gurugram on Monday. Police were alerted by locals. The stray dogs had mutilated the bodies, they added.
The three men, identified as Punit (20), Dharambir (21) and Jogender (20), belonged to Rakhalu village in UP's Amroha district. They had come to Gurugram in February and started working as daily wagers at infrastructure sites.
Once the 21-day lockdown was announced by the government and their work came to a halt, the labourers decided to walk back home and return only once the situation normalised.
"They did not have much in savings. Once work was stopped, they decided to go back home. Today, we heard about their death," a worker who lives in Sakatpur's labour colony told the police. He added that they all stayed in the same room but had to vacate in the current circumstances.
While construction at the sub-station had been abandoned, the pit remained and the soil may have loosened after light rain, said police. "It seems the labourers might have been passing by or had just stopped to rest at night when the cave-in happened," a police officer said, adding that there were no eyewitnesses.
When police officers were informed by locals, a team from Badshapur police station rushed to the spot. Inspector Mukesh, its SHO, said prima facie it seemed like an accident. "We are investigating the case," he added.
The bodies have been sent for an autopsy and the medical report is awaited. The exact date of the death is not yet clear. According to Dr Deepak Mathur, a forensics expert at Civil Hospital, the bodies were partially decomposed and the deaths seem to have occurred four days ago due to asphyxiation.