Welder’s electrocution: Isro staffers, builders booked

Six people, among them two Isro employees and two builders, have been booked for criminal negligence after a young welder was electrocuted at a building site in northern Bengaluru.

Syed Nasir, a resident of Nehru Nagar, Yarab Nagar in Banashankari 2nd Stage, died from electrocution while working at an under-construction building in Isro Quarters, HMT Estate, Jalahalli, around 4.40 pm on April 11. His leg had come in contact with an electric switchboard while he was welding the side grille of a staircase that runs from the ground floor to the first floor of the building.

The building is being constructed for the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), police said.

Nasir had left home around 8 am along with a neighbour named Mohammed Sahil. Around 5.30 pm, Sahil called Nasir’s mother Shabana and told her about the electrocution. The family rushed to the MS Ramaiah Hospital where Nasir’s body was kept and was shocked to find both his hands charred.

Shabana later filed a police complaint, blaming the site engineers, the builders and the supervisors for her son’s death. She said her son hadn’t been provided with any safety gear, which resulted in his death.

The Jalahalli police opened a case of death caused by negligence, naming Venkateswarlu, the owner of Prani Infrastructure; Venkatesh Babu, the owner of Balaji Engineering Works; Oman Pal George, in-charge at Isro, Ranjith, the site engineer of Isro, Naveen Reddy, another site engineer, and Syed Yarab, a welder who had brought Nasir to the workplace.

Police said they were yet to make any arrest as they were busy with security arrangements for the prime minister’s election rally.