Bengaluru: Man electrocuted at Hebbal bus stop by ‘illegal’ ad panel

A 30-year-old man died of electrocution near the Hebbal bus stand on Saturday night after he accidentally came in contact with a live electric wire.

A 30-year-old man died of electrocution near the Hebbal bus stand on Saturday night after he accidentally came in contact with the live electric wire.

The tragic incident occurred at around 9.40 pm when the victim touched the metal part of the bus shelter ( Representational image). (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Representative)

The tragic incident occurred at around 9.40 pm when the victim touched the metal part of the bus shelter, as per the police and an official statement issued by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM)

Executive engineer, Hebbal division of BESCOM, HD Channakeshava told a leading news website that according to eye-witnesses as soon as the man sat on the bench, he was electrocuted.

It was reported that the man came in contact with a live electric wire, illegally drawn by a private advertisement company to light up an advertisement panel at the bus shelter. As per the engineers of BESCOM the person may have been electrocuted as there was poor insulation around the wire and the outer metal box of the advertisement panel also came in contact with the wire. The man most probably touched the box and got an electric shock causing his death.

A team of BESCOM engineers visited the spot and found an unauthorised extension of LT power drawn through an aluminium OH wire by a private advertising agency to draw power to the bus shelter. The team comprised of executive engineer, assistant executive engineer, and section officer of the Hebbal subdivision.

The victim’s body has been shifted to Dr BR Ambedkar Medical College Hospital, said Police officials. The Hebbal police have registered a case and an investigation to ascertain the identity of the deceased is in process.

Also as per a senior Bescom official, the incident was a non-departmental accident and since it was fatal in nature, a complaint has been filed by the vigilance wing of BESCOM against the private advertising agency for illegally drawing power connections thus leading to this tragedy.

BESCOM says the incident took place due to illegally drawn power to an advertisement board.

It is to be noted that, earlier in December 2020, the power supply to the advertising hoarding was disconnected after the consumer failed to pay the outstanding bill. But BESCOM alleged that unauthorised power was drawn from the pole by the agency recently.

It was the third such incident in the last 3 months in which people died of electrocution from a live electric wire.

Recently, on April 25, the death of a 22-year-old daily wage worker Kishore B was reported in Sanjaynagar Main Road. Kishore was walking home when he came in contact with an internet cable and died on the spot due to electrocution. Following this, the Sanjaynagar police arrested three staffers, including an area manager of the internet service provider company.