Meerut: A private hospital here, to which three Dalit sewage workers were rushed after they inhaled toxic gas in a septic tank at a meat processing and fodder plant, allegedly refused medical attention to them, leading to their death, according to police officers.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, a meat processing unit situated on Hapur road under Kharkhauda police station. The unit is owned by Rashid Akhlaq, brother of former BSP MP Shahid Akhlaq.Hospital staff, however, allegedly refused to admit the three men or give them medical attention for half-an-hour, before police reached the hospital.“Every second is critical in such cases, but the hospital staff didn't bother to even admit them, knowing that their families might not afford the medical bill,” Rajendra Tyagi, SHO Kharkhauda said.Meanwhile, hospital representatives claimed that the three labourers were already dead by the time they were brought to the hospital and therefore were not admitted. “The three youths were brought unconscious to the hospital by workers of the firm. When our doctors inspected them, they were already dead. We then alerted police,” said Ravindra Gujjar, owner of Jagdamba Hospital on Hapur road.While the main plant of Al-Yashir, which is a meat processing unit, was sealed during the crackdown on illegal slaughter houses last year, the fodder unit was still in operation. “The licence of the fodder unit is in place. However, a probe is under way to check if the norms were flouted,” superintendent of police (SP) rural Rajesh Kumar said.The incident happened after Jitendra stepped into the septic tank, which stores blood and animal remains and was being cleaned. Hearing his cry for help, Guddu and Ajay also entered the tank and found him struggling to breathe after inhaling toxic gases.The three youths failed to escape from the tank and were found unconscious by other workers after an alarm was raised. The victims, all residents of Bijauli village, were then rushed to Jagdamba Hospital.

Stay updated with all the Meerut Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.