Hyderabad: Electricity department employee D. Shankaraiah, died after falling from an electric pole in Kapra while attending a complaint.
Officials from the department said a resident had asked Shanka-raiah, 39, to replace a defective service wire on the pole.
He switched off the supply on a different line and went ahead with the repairs. He suffered a shock and fell down. “A detailed report will be submitted to the department for action.” said B. Srinivas Reddy, ADE Sainikpuri division.
Shankaraiah was working as a contract employee with the southern discom for a decade. His services were recently regularised and he was promoted to artisan grade II.
Family receives Rs 10 lakh aid, demands probe
Mr B. Srinivas Reddy, ADE Sainikpuri division, said that staff should inform their superiors before attending calls. “This is a low tension line that supplies electricity to residences, which does not need any line clearance. After he fell down, we found that instead of switching off the supply on a certain cable, he did it on a different one,” said Mr Srinivas.
He said the autopsy report will make it clear whether Shankaraiah died due to an electric shock or the injuries of the fall.
A cheque of '10 lakh was handed over to his wife Vijayalakshmi. His family demanded an investigation, in addition to the benefits.
Based on a complaint from assistant engineer K. Chandrashekar, a case of suspicious death has been registered.
Recently, Dulam Yadaiah, a discom worker, died after falling from a pole while attending to a complaint in Manso-orabad last Saturday. Assistant engineer Narsimha, who accompanied him, was booked for negligence.
On January 23, Patlavath Lakshmi was electrocuted after he came in contact with a loose wire hanging from an electric pole at Shamshabad on January 23. A case was booked against the electricity department. Compensation was paid to both families.
