Two men died after inhaling toxic gases allegedly while cleaning a septic tank of a banquet hall in east Delhi's Ghazipur area, police said on Friday. Lokesh (35) and Prem Chand (40), residents of Trilokpuri, entered the tank to clean it on Thursday evening and were subsequently found dead inside, the police said, adding that the deceased were not given any protective gear and were offered Rs 3,000 for the work. Three people have been detained in connection with the incident -- Rahul, a housekeeping staff, Aamir Khan, the general manager and Jimmy Arora, the owner of the banquet hall.

They are being interrogated presently and action will be taken based on the outcome of the probe, the police said. "The housekeeping staff of the banquet hall called the two men for cleaning the tank at 7.30 pm and around 10 pm, they were found dead," Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Deepak Yadav said. Teams from the Fire Department, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority and MCD visited the spot, he said, adding that the two men were taken to a hospital, where they were declared brought dead. The family members of the deceased have alleged that the men, who had gone for catering related work at the banquet hall, were forced to clean the septic tank and were not given any protective gear. The officer said, "We have spoken to the family members and have asked them to give a complaint in this regard. We are looking into the matter." Amit Kumar, who is a cousin of the deceased, Lokesh, alleged that his brother and the other person had gone there for catering work but they were forced to clean the septic tank for the money. Lalit Kumar, another cousin of Lokesh, said that asking the two men to clean the septic tank was illegal and alleged that there was no one to supervise when they entered the tank.