Energy Minister K J George.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Four independent experts will investigate the freak accident in which a 23-year-old woman and her nine-month-old infant died after stepping on a snapped high-tension wire in eastern Bengaluru on November 19.
This will be the third investigation into the horrific incident and is aimed at eliminating "bias" and preventing future tragedies of a similar nature, Energy Minister K J George said at a press conference on Tuesday.
While police have launched a criminal probe into the incident, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) has formed an internal team to get to the root of the case.
The independent team of experts will be headed by S Sumanth, a retired director (technical) of the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL). It will investigate the incident from all angles as well as look into the technical aspects, George said.
Other members of the team will be B V Girish, chief engineer (electrical), RT and R&D; Prabhakar, joint director, Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), and G Ravikumar, deputy chief electrical inspector, Bengaluru East.
The minister acknowledged that it was a "peculiar" incident that needed to be thoroughly probed to determine its root cause and help take stringent action. "Identifying the root cause will help prevent such incidents in future,” he said.
On the minister's direction, Bescom's General Manager (Admin and Human Resources) has suspended the Assistant Executive Engineer of E-4 Sub-Division T Subramani; Assistant Engineer of E-4 Sub-Division, S Chetan; Junior Engineer of E-4 Su-Division Rajanna; Junior Lineman Manjunath Revanna and Lineman Basavaraju for dereliction of duties.
George said that the officials were suspended to make sure there was no deflection or bias in the investigation.
The government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased and will issue the cheque once the rightful recipient is identified, he added.
Speaking to reporters at a different event, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said Bescom officials were arrested and released on station bail as per the law. He was answering a query as to why the suspects were released immediately.
The suspects were arrested for causing death by negligence under IPC Section 304(A), a bailable offence.
"We have to go by what has been stipulated in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). I understand the gravity of the situation. My sympathies are with the family and it was an extremely unfortunate incident but we have to act according to the law," Dayananda said.
On the further course of action in the probe, the top cop said that the electrical inspectorate had carried out an inspection of the spot and added that the police would need technical assistance. "We will also need assistance from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and will carry out the investigations based on the findings," he said.