Meerut:

A private hospital here allegedly denied medical aid to three Dalit sewage workers who had inhaled toxic gas from a septic tank, resulting in their death. The three workers were rushed to the hospital right after incident on Thursday evening at a meat processing and fodder plant owned by Rashid Akhlaq, brother of former BSP MP Sahid Akhlaq.

A case of murder has been lodged against Rashid and an unidentified manager of the firm, Al-Yasir Pvt Ltd. Jogendra (22), Guddu (18) and Ajay (26) were taken to Jagdamba Hospital on Thursday night from the second plant of Al-Yashir Export Pvt Ltd situated on Hapur road.

Hospital staff, however, allegedly refused to admit the three men or give them medical attention for half-an-hour, insisting that they wait for the police to arrive. “Every second is crucial in such cases, but the hospital staff didn’t bother to even admit them, knowing that their families might not afford the treatment,” Rajendra Tyagi, SHO Kharkhauda said.

Meanwhile, hospital representatives claimed the three labourers were already dead when brought to the hospital and therefore were not admitted. While the main plant of Al-Yashir, a meat processing unit, was sealed during the crackdown on illegal slaughter houses, the fodder unit was still in operation. “The licence of the fodder unit is in place. But a probe is on to check if norms

TOI