Representative image showing water tank
Credit: iStock Photo
Thane: Police have arrested a contractor after a 16-year-old boy engaged by him to clean a water tank at a housing complex in Maharashtra's Thane city died due to an electric shock during the work, an official said on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old contractor was hired by the housing society, located on Ghodbunder Road, to clean its water tanks.
On March 22, the contractor deputed the minor boy to clean the water tank without providing him with any safety equipment.
During the cleaning process, the boy suffered an electric shock and died on the spot, an official from Kasarwadavli police station said.
After being alerted, the police rushed to the site and sent the body to a government hospital for a post-mortem.
Initially, a case of accidental death was registered. But after a detailed investigation, the police registered an FIR against the contractor, holding him responsible for negligence that led to the minor's death, the official said.
The contractor was arrested on Monday and booked under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, senior police inspector Sunil Patil said.