Koppal: Five students got electrocuted at Devaraj Urs Residential School here on Sunday morning when they were trying to remove a flag post installed for Independence Day celebrations on the first-floor terrace of the hostel building.
According to the preliminary enquiry done by police, the two students got electrocuted when they came in contact with the 11 kv live electric line, while three others died while trying to save them.
Four students died on the spot, while the fifth victim succumbed on the way to hospital.
The deceased hail from nearby villages and their families have been informed about the incident. The deceased students have been identified as Mallikarjun, Basavraj, Devaraj, Ganesh and Kumar.
As news of the incident spread, Deputy Commissioner P. Sunil Kumar, Superintendent of Police Renuka Sukumar, zilla panchayat chief executive engineer Raghunandan Murthy and other senior officers rushed to the spot at Bannikatti area in Koppal city.
The District Commissioner said he would initiate stringent legal action against the owner of the building, the warden and the officers of Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company (GESCOM).
“The hostel is being run in a private building on a rent basis. The owner of the building, the warden of the hostel and GESCOM are responsible for the incident. I will ask the local tahsildar to lodge a complaint against the three. The police will then book a case,” Kumar said.
Koppal SP Renuka Sukumar said that it was a gross violation of safety measures and the building owner should not have allowed the hostel mates to be so close to the electric wire.
The Koppal police have booked cases against three people, including the building owner. The other two offenders include local power supply official and hostel warden.
According to local residents, the hostel has about 60 students and on August 15 they organized a function. “We heard some noise around the electric line. By the time people ran to the terrace the students had died and fallen on each other. One of the boys, who was still alive, was shifted to hospital but he too died. The hostel warden should have warned students against going to the terrace, where electric lines are located so close,” he noted.
The locals have demanded a probe and are now questioning why did the students were sent to clean the flag post. “The incident happened when the warden has asked the students to remove the rope from the flagpole. The students are in fear and have gone to their hometowns after the tragedy,” said a student.
In Bengaluru, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa told mediapersons on Sunday that he had ordered a probe into the incident and that those responsible for the negligence would be held accountable. “We will give a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased students,” he said.
