Two men dead after electric pole falls during replacement work in Gurugram

According to police, the workers had dug out the base of the earlier pole but it suddenly collapsed, probably due to inefficient strengthening by ropes

Two men died when an electricity pole fell on them in Sector 31 in Gurugram, police said on Wednesday.

a First Information Report was registered against the contractor under Section 304A of (causing death by negligence) the Indian Penal Code at Sector 40 police station on Tuesday evening, said police officers. (Representative Image/HT Archive)

The incident took place at 4pm on Monday when the pole was being dug up by a contractor of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (DHBVN), which was going to erect a new pole at the spot.

The deceased men have been identified as Sunil Pal (18), who was from Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh, and Mohammad Moinuddin (28), who was from Saharsa, Bihar.

Moinuddin was part of the team of daily wage workers under the contractor who had reached the spot with a new electric pole to replace the old pole, while Pal was not involved with the digging work and had come to the spot with a tractor to load soil from nearby construction sites to take it to another place, said police officers.

According to police, the workers had dug out the base of the earlier pole but it suddenly collapsed, probably due to inefficient strengthening by ropes. Pal stepped out of his tractor to better position the vehicle when the pole fell on him and Moinuddin, said police.

Pal was taken to a private hospital in Sector 32 but doctors declared him dead on arrival. Moinuddin was taken to another private hospital in Sector 51 but died during treatment on Tuesday, said police.

Investigators said the father of Pal, Shiv Charan (45), sought compensation for his son’s death, saying his family was dependent on Pal’s earnings and that two of his three daughters were yet to get married.

On Charan’s complaint, a First Information Report was registered against the contractor under Section 304A of (causing death by negligence) the Indian Penal Code at Sector 40 police station on Tuesday evening, said police officers.

Inspector Satish Kumar, station house officer of Sector 40 police station, said, “Action against the contractor will be taken on the basis of evidence against him.”

Virender Singh Malik, Sector 31 sub-divisional officer of DHBVN, said they were inquiring into the matter.