On morning walk, man and dog are electrocuted in F’bad

A 23-year-old man was electrocuted and killed, apparently while trying to save his dog after the animal stepped on a live wire during their morning walk in Faridabad on Friday, police said

A 23-year-old man was electrocuted and killed, apparently while trying to save his dog after the animal stepped on a live wire during their morning walk in Faridabad on Friday, police said. An FIR has been registered against unidentified officials of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) for alleged negligence.

Police said the incident took place between 5.15am and 5.30am

Police said the incident took place between 5.15am and 5.30am, when the victim Aman Chautala stepped out of his house for a morning walk in Rajiv Colony, Sector 56A, where he lived with his family. Chautala, who hailed from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, was killed barely 100 metres from his home, investigators said.

A senior police officer said the position of the bodies suggested that the dog was electrocuted first and Chautala then tried to rescue it. “Looking at the way in which the bodies were lying, it seems that the dog was electrocuted first, and that the man probably tried to rescue him and got electrocuted too,” the officer said.

Police are investigating whether an overhead 11kV power cable snapped while Chautala and his dog were crossing the area or whether the wire had broken earlier and remained on the road for several hours.

Investigators said a local resident came out of his house several minutes after the incident and spotted Chautala and the dog lying dead on the road. He raised an alarm, following which other residents and Chautala’s family rushed to the spot.

The police control room and DHBVN were alerted. The power supply to the area was subsequently disconnected, allowing the bodies to be moved away from the live wire.

Officials from DHBVN refused HT’s request for comment on the matter. However, a DHBVN official, who sought to remain anonymous, said the discom was conducting an inquiry. “Once our internal inquiry is complete, necessary action will be taken if anyone is found negligent,” the official said.

Emergency response teams reached the spot and took Chautala to a nearby private hospital, where doctors declared him dead, police said. His body was handed over to his family after an autopsy at the ESIC hospital in Faridabad.

Chautala’s father, Mukesh Kumar, alleged that negligence by the discom led to his son’s death.

“We suspect that the feeder wire broke several hours back but none from DHBVN took action to turn down the power supply of the area. The live broken wire kept lying on the road for several hours, which killed my son along with our dog,” he alleged.

Kumar demanded action against the officials responsible, alleging that the failure to disconnect the power supply had caused his son’s death.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said a tripping had occurred in the power supply line and was suspected to have caused the feeder wire to break.

“DHBVN officials have confirmed the tripping but they were yet to provide an official record of when it had taken place,” he said.

Yadav said the discom’s report would be shared with police, which would take further legal action if negligence by its officials was established.

An FIR was registered at Sector 58 police station based on Kumar’s complaint under Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against unidentified DHBVN officials, police said.