HYDERABAD: In a shocking incident, two brothers and their mother were electrocuted after they came into contact with high tension wires that snapped and fell in front of their house at Keesara in the city outskirts early on Tuesday. The incident sparked protests from the villagers. The district administration suspended the assistant engineer of electricity department holding him responsible for the mishap.
According to the police, heavy gales snapped off a 33/11 kv high tension wire passing through the Shivaji Nagar in the village. The live electric wires fell in front of the house of Mallesh Yadav, a local TDP leader and a businessman dealing with tractors.
As the high tension fell on one of the tractors parked in front of the house, the vehicle caught fire.
Mallesh Yadav (37) was woken up the light drizzle and found his tractor burning. He tried to douse the flames by pouring water. “By pouring water on the tractor, Mallesh got electrocuted and was reduced to ashes within minutes,” police said.
Mallesh’s brother, Lakshman Yadav, who heard his brother’s cries rushed out of the house. “Lakshman saw the electric wires and stopped a few feet away from the pool of water in which his brother lay dead,” police said.
Mallesh’s mother, Mallamma, who also rushed out of the house slipped and fell into the water. Lakshman tried to save his mother and grabbed her hand, but both of them got electrocuted.
Mallesh’s wife, Padma was also electrocuted but luckily she survived with minor injuries.
Villagers alleged that the high tension wire was hanging loose since the past few days and their requests to the electricity department to rectify the problem were ignored. They staged a dharna demanding ex gratia to the family.
Ranga Reddy District Collector M Dhan Kishore visited the village and announced Rs 50 lakh for each victim under the Revenue Department’s Apadhbandhu scheme. Similarly, the Collector assured that Rs 1 lakh to each victim would be provided by Transco.
The Collector also assured Rs 25,000 for the three children of the deceased from the Backward Classes Corporation as well as education facilities to them. Meanwhile, the Collector suspended the Keesara assistant engineer, Ramu, holding him responsible for the mishap.