58-year-old man killed after electricity wire falls on him in Ballia

Police said a case under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the sub-divisional officer of the Bairia electricity sub-station, Hans Raj Yadav, and junior engineer Manoj Kumar Verma

: A 58-year-old man died after an electricity wire snapped and fell on him in the Mirzapur ward locality of Baira area in Ballia district on Tuesday, police said.

The villagers had also collected money among themselves to get the wire replaced, but it was not changed, the complaint alleged. The family has attributed the death to negligence by electricity department officials. (For representation only)

The deceased, Hridaya Nand Verma, was taking a walk outside his house in the early hours when the electricity wire fell on him, killing him on the spot, they said. Bairia circle officer Alok Gupta said police reached the spot after receiving information about the incident and sent the body for postmortem examination. Police said a case under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the sub-divisional officer of the Bairia electricity sub-station, Hans Raj Yadav, and junior engineer Manoj Kumar Verma.The case was registered on the complaint of the deceased’s grandson, Avnish Maurya.

The complaint alleged that villagers had repeatedly complained to the two officials about the dilapidated electricity wire. More than 200 complaints had allegedly been made over the past four months. The villagers had also collected money among themselves to get the wire replaced, but it was not changed, the complaint alleged. The family has attributed the death to negligence by electricity department officials. Police said the situation in the village is peaceful and an investigation is underway.

With agency input