3 guards suffocate to death due to toxic gasfrom brazier in UP mint factory, unit sealed

Bareilly: Three security guards on night duty at a mint factory in UP's Budaun were found dead inside a locked cabin on Tuesday morning. Police said preliminary investigation indicated they died of suffocation due to toxic gas from a burning coal in a brazier on Monday night. An FIR has been registered against the factory management and the unit has been sealed, police said."It seems toxic gas from the brazier caused their deaths. The incident came to light in the morning when factory staff found them lying unconscious in the cabin," said SP Budaun Brijesh Singh.The unit is situated in Kuda Narsinghpur village under Ujhani police area. The deceased guards were identified as Jogendra Singh (30), Bhanu Kumar (26) and Vivek Yadav (27). Alleging negligence by the factory management, their families put the bodies on the road to block traffic.Following the protest, an FIR was registered against factory owners Manoj Goyal and Nitesh Goyal on a complaint by Jogendra's father, Ram Bahadur. Factory manager Rakesh (first name available) was also named in the FIR.In the FIR, the complainant stated that the three men were "murdered and their bodies were dumped in the cabin". There were injury marks on the bodies, he alleged.Notably, the same factory was hit by a massive fire on May 21, 2025, after a boiler collapsed during a storm. Nitrogen cylinders stored inside exploded one after another. Flames rose nearly 60 feet high, and smoke was visible from around 3-km away, as per eyewitnesses. A 23-year-old man was burnt alive, and his charred remains were found 15 days later. The unit was allowed to operate after investigation.(With inputs from Asif Ansari)