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‘Harassed’ power employee dies by suicide at Muzaffarnagar substation
Just before his death in the early hours of Sunday, the employee wrote a note on the department’s WhatsApp group
An electricity department employee allegedly shot himself dead while on duty in Muzaffarnagar’s Titawi area, police said. In a note, the employee claimed that he was being harassed over his appointment under the Scheduled Caste quota, the police added.
The deceased, identified as a 28-year-old from Narsipur, was posted as the sub-station operator at the Mukundpur power substation in Titawi. Just before his death in the early hours of Sunday, he is said to have written a note on the department’s WhatsApp group. A while later, he allegedly used a country-made gun to kill himself in a room of the substation.
According to police officials, Shubham was on night duty at the substation. Around 12:30am, his colleagues received the note on the WhatsApp group.
Around 1am, junior engineer Sunil Sahu was informed. Police and electricity department staff reached the power substation within about ten minutes. A key was found on the floor outside the room. When it was opened, Shubham’s body was found inside, with his mobile phone and the pistol lying nearby.
Circle officer (Phugana) Yatendra Nagar said a suicide note was recovered. In it, Shubham alleged that he had obtained his job under the SC quota and was being blackmailed and subjected to continuous pressure over the fact, the CO added.
The note reportedly named one Ganpat from Bhaisna village in Budhana, who had allegedly filed a complaint against him. The employee also expressed suspicion that others might also be harassing him.
Sumit Kumar, who’s the head of a village where the deceased hailed from, said the deceased’s father supported the family through dairy farming. The 28-year-old was the eldest son in the family.
Police officials said the body had been handed over to the family after a post-mortem, and further investigation was underway. All aspects related to the allegations mentioned in the note were being examined, they added.
