Pune: Two youths working in the canteen of a city-based college were found dead on Wednesday inside their room in Dhankawadi, which had been fumigated for pest control.
The deceased persons have been identified as Ajay Raju Beldar (20) from Kapuswadi village in Jamner taluka of Jalgaon district and Ananta Shivdas Khedkar (20) from Dhopargaon in Khamgaon taluka of Buldhana district. They resided in Mama Yenpure Nagar locality of Dhankawadi.
According to Bharati Vidyapeeth police, the room was fumigated on Sunday and the youths had gone to their friend’s place to stay for two days. They returned to their room on Tuesday night to sleep but were found dead the next day.
Police suspect that they died of suffocation due to inhalation of poisonous fumes. Police have registered a case of accidental death.
“Both of them were working in the canteen of the college located in Dhankawadi. The canteen manager had provided them with a room on the campus to stay. Their room was fumigated for pest control (to get rid of bedbugs) on Sunday, following which Ajay and Ananta went to their friend’s place to stay. They returned on Tuesday and after working in the canteen for the day, they retired to their room to sleep at night. Post mortem report has revealed that they suffocated to death while they were asleep. Few empty packets of a pest control chemical were found in the dust bin and some house lizards were also found dead,” said Senior Police Inspector Vishnu Pawar, in-charge of Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.
On Wednesday morning, when both of them did not turn up at the canteen for work, their manager went to their room.
When he did not get any response despite repeatedly knocking at the door, he entered the room by breaking the window glass at the back of the room.
The canteen manager then found both of them lying motionless in the room. He, with the help of other people, took them to a hospital, where they were declared brought dead.
The family members of the youths have demanded a thorough investigation to rule out any foul play in the deaths.
Pawar added, “We are now recording the statements of the canteen manager. An investigation is on to find out if the duo had themselves used chemicals or somebody else was called for pest control treatment in the room. The post mortem report suggested death due to poisoning but the chemical analysis of their viscera will confirm the suspicion. Further action will be taken after the investigation.”
Precautions to be taken after pest control
Dr Nagnath Redewad from Department of Medicine in Sassoon General Hospital said that if the pest control is done through fumigation, then there should be proper ventilation later.
“In case of other modes of pest control, it should be seen that utensils and other things which are used for cooking are washed properly. Moreover, if there are clothes, they should be washed as well as the poison can affect a person. The pest control companies often have a ‘Dos and Donts’ manual, the concerned person must go through it well in advance,” said Redewad.
Past deaths after pest control
