Jabalpur, Sep 24 (IANS) : A 16-year-old boy died after suffering an electric shock from a live pole at a Ganesh pandal in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, police said on Thursday.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night in Jasuja City Phase-3, under the Dhanwantari Nagar police outpost, when Shaurya Chanpuria was returning home with his friends after attending a Maha Aarti at the pandal.
According to police, an electric current was passing through a pole supporting the pandal. Shaurya, a Class 11 student, came in contact with the pole and collapsed.
He was rushed to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead during treatment. “Information was received around 9.30 p.m. that a young man had been brought to the Medical Hospital after suffering an electric shock. Doctors declared him dead,” Dhanwantari Nagar police outpost in-charge Durgesh Maravi said.
Police said preliminary investigation found that the pole had become electrically charged and Shaurya touched it while leaving the pandal. His body was sent to the Medical College mortuary, and a post-mortem examination is scheduled later in the day.
Members of the organising committee told police that they were aware that the pole had current and had informed the person responsible for installing the tent, officials said.
“Who was responsible for the negligence and at what level it occurred is being investigated. Further action will be taken on the basis of the facts that emerge during the probe,” Maravi said.
Shaurya’s family alleged that the presence of live current in an open area amounted to serious negligence and demanded action against those responsible.
Police said some children who tried to rescue Shaurya also received electric shocks while attempting to lift him.
The incident has also brought back memories of a similar tragedy in Jabalpur last year, when two children died after coming in contact with an electrically charged iron pipe at a Durga Puja pandal near Bargi Hills under Tilwara police station limits.
Public Works Minister Rakesh Singh had ordered a high-level inquiry into that incident.
