Officials booked for negligence after man dies of electric shock in Greater Noida

The deceased has been identified by his Satish, a resident of a village in Dankaur, Greater Noida, said police, adding his daughter Soniya, who suffered a heavy electric shock, is hospitalised

Greater Noida: A junior engineer (JE), sub-division officer (SDO), and other unidentified employees of the power department were booked on charges of causing death by negligence after a 38-year-old man was electrocuted and his 18-year-old daughter suffered a heavy electric shock while working at their agriculture field in Greater Noida, Dankaur, on Tuesday afternoon, police said on Thursday.

At the current stage, there is no direct evidence of any negligence or error committed by departmental officials,” said Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, chief engineer, Sanjay Kumar. (Representational image)

The deceased has been identified by his Satish, a resident of a village in Dankaur, Greater Noida, said police, adding his daughter Soniya, who suffered a heavy electric shock, is hospitalised.

“On Tuesday afternoon, when Satish and his daughter Soniya were working in his agriculture field in Dankaur, they suffered an electric shock as electricity flowed into the wet ground caused by a transformer installed next to the field,” said Dankaur Station House Officer (SHO), Munendra Singh.

This was the first time that electricity flowed out of the transformer, said officials.

“As their family members came to know about the incident, the two were rushed to a nearby hospital where Satish was declared brought dead, while Soniya is undergoing treatment,” said SHO Singh.

On the complaint of Satish’s nephew Kailash (single name) , a case under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 125 (act endangering life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against power department employees.

“As Satish’s family members alleged that they tried to stop the power department from installing a transformer next to their field but they did anyway, so a case was registered against the JE, SDO, and other unidentified suspects of power dealers. It was alleged that due to the negligence, 11,000 volts flowed into the wet agriculture field, leading to Satish’s death,” said SHO Singh adding that further investigation is underway.

“According to preliminary information, the likely cause of the accident appears to be the electrification of an iron fence installed at the edge of the field, which was a locally constructed structure and not officially erected by the department. It appears that the iron fence was privately tied to the stay wire of a 25 kVA transformer, through which electric current flowed. It is hereby clarified that at the current stage, there is no direct evidence of any negligence or error committed by departmental officials,” said Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, chief engineer, Sanjay Kumar adding that the report was also submitted to police.

“Therefore, it is expected that conclusions should be withheld until the investigation report from the electrical safety directorate is received. Only after the report is obtained will any accountability be determined and strict departmental action, if required, be taken accordingly,” the report stated.

When contacted, Junior Engineer (JE) Ram Aashre of Maycha ka Mandiya village, where the incident took place, it was informed that on Thursday he was transferred to Rabupura in Greater Noida, while another JE, Sandeep Kumar from Meerut, joined in the evening.