The police in the city of Vadodara in Gujarat have arrested the owner and manager of a hotel where seven workers died last week while cleaning a septic tank, PTI reported on Wednesday. The two had been absconding since the incident on Saturday.

The hotel owner, identified as Hasan Abbas Boraniya, was arrested along with his brother Imdad Boraniya, the manager of the establishment, from their home late on Tuesday, said an unidentified police official.

Four sanitation workers – Mahesh Patanwadiya, Ashok Harijan, Brijesh Harijan, Mahesh Harijan – were roped in to clean the tank. The hotel’s employees Vijay Chaudhary, Sahdev Vasava, and Ajay Vasava assisted them.

On Wednesday, local Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the district collector, demanding that the hotel owner be booked on murder charges. They also held protests outside the collector’s office. Congress workers claimed they had informed authorities about the hotel being run illegally but no action was taken.