Charan, a 33‑year‑old contract worker from K Shettihalli in Maddur taluk, fell into a hot water pit at Mysore Sugar Factory (MySugar) in Mandya district on September 3, was taken to K R Hospital in Mysuru and died on Tuesday; his family, relatives and villagers protested outside the plant, accusing management of negligence, prompting tight police security.
Charan had been employed on a contract through a private agency for eighteen months. After his death, his relatives and villagers from K Shettihalli organized a dharna outside MySugar, with several organisations joining the protest, and police deployed tight security around the site.
In a separate incident in Yadgiri district, a suspected sulphur dioxide leak at a factory in the Kadechur‑Badiyal Industrial Area on Tuesday morning caused three deaths and two injuries. The deceased were identified as Katla Ganesh, a migrant worker from Mahabubnagar district, Telangana, and Vikram Singh Gonda and Sanjay Singh Gonda from Katni district, Madhya Pradesh. The injured, Manchala Hemanth and Manchala Shivakumar, both from Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, are under treatment at a hospital. The leak led to the suspension of factory operations. Yadgiri Superintendent of Police Prithvik Shankar said, “In the early morning hours, a chemical, likely to be sulphur dioxide, leaked, leading to the death of three workers. Two workers were admitted to Raichur Medical Hospital.”