Overview

• Police arrested telecom infrastructure contractor Ramesh Shivaji Patil in the Nigdi case involving three worker deaths inside a BSNL optical-fibre duct.
• The FIR also names unidentified BSNL officials for negligence, with investigators working to identify the officers responsible for the project.
• The workers entered a 10×10-foot chamber with stagnant water on August 15 to install an Optical Line Terminal Equipment and lost consciousness soon after entry.
• Investigators cite failures including reopening a sealed duct without safety checks, deploying unskilled labour, and not providing breathing apparatus or other protective gear.
• The primary autopsy was inconclusive, and viscera samples have been sent for chemical analysis to determine whether toxic gases or oxygen deficiency caused the suffocation.