In a bizarre incident that has triggered angry protests from residents of Kuan Patti area of Meerut’s Incholi village, a massive 11,000-volt current passed through 110 houses in the locality, killing a 20-year-old B.Tech student and injuring four others with burn injuries. The incident occurred on Sunday when the passage of the high-voltage current resulted in all electrical appliances in use exploding one after the other. According to a Times Of India report, one house was also gutted in the fire as a consequence.
Officials said that an electric line fault led to the freak accident, though the exact cause behind the fault could not be immediately ascertained According to Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rajesh Kumar, all appliances in use at the time of the fault were charred. While one person died, four others received burn injuries and a house caught fire.
The deceased, identified as 20-year-old second-year B.Tech student Satendra Das, was plugging in his phone charger at the time the fault occurred, resulting in his instant death. The other injured included three women and a man. While Bijjo (50) suffered 70 per cent burn injuries and is said to be critical, Anjum (35), Sahiba (32), and a local man, Mohammad Shaakir (38), received less than 30 percent burns. The ordeal was no less for Shaatir Ahmad whose house caught fire after his television set exploded.
According to SB Yadav, chief engineer, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited (PVVNL), the exact cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained and a probe is underway. The official further informed that the deceased’s family has been given a cheque of Rs 5 lakh as compensation, adding that the three injured women have been admitted to a hospital and those who got minor burns were sent home after treatment.
Meanwhile, the incident resulted in massive protests by the residents of the village who blocked the National Highway for several hours. The protesters placed Satendra’s body on NH-119 and blocked it. Senior officials of the police and district administration had to rush to the spot to try and placate the angry protesters. The blockade was lifted late evening.