In a tragic incident, a teenaged boy who had visited his uncle’s place to celebrate Deepavali, was electrocuted when he came in contact with a low-lying power line at a field in Anandanarkottai, near Thirupalaikudi on Sunday.
Police said M. Hariharan, a second year polytechnic student, had gone to his uncle’s place and went to the field to attend nature’s call when the mishap occurred. While walking back, he lifted his hands and inadvertently came in contact with the power line of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation.
When it was taken to their notice, the Tangedco officials, in a bid to mislead the police and cover up dereliction of duty on their part, set right the wire soon after the electrocution. The aggrieved family, however, produced photo evidence of the low-lying power line, before it was set right to the police. The post mortem report also revealed that Hariharan died of electrocution, police said.
Reacting to the incident, Collector S. Natarajan said he had taken up the issue with the Superintending Engineer of Tangedco and directed him to set right all low-lying power lines. They have also been asked to keep a close vigil on rusted electric poles and ensure that there was no loss of life due to electrocution during the north-east monsoon, he said.
Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan said the lineman and other Tangedco staff who were in-charge of work in the area would be arraigned as accused when police filed the chargesheet in the case. As of now, police registered a case under section 174 Cr PC and investigating, he said.
