A routine cable-repair job turned fatal this afternoon in the Baliapanda police station area of Puri city when two young men were electrocuted after the TV cable they were fixing came into contact with an 11 kV power line.
The deceased have been identified as Bapi Pradhan and Subrat Sahu. One of them hailed from Ramamandir Jali Sahi and the other from Mangala Sahi area of the town. According to preliminary information, the duo was engaged in laying or repairing a television cable within the police station premises when the cable accidentally touched the high-tension wire. Both suffered severe electric shocks and died on the spot.
Police rushed the bodies to the Puri Sadar Headquarters Hospital in a PCR van. Doctors later declared them dead. However, the manner in which the bodies were shifted — without calling an ambulance and without immediately informing the families — has triggered strong resentment. Relatives and locals expressed anger at the hospital, alleging negligence and lack of sensitivity.
Puri Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh, along with inspectors-in-charge of various police stations and the City DSP, reached the hospital after receiving information about the incident. The SP described the tragedy as “extremely unfortunate.” Two cases of unnatural death have been registered at Baliapanda police station, and an investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, grieving family members staged a dharna in front of the post-mortem house at the hospital, demanding justice and a fair inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths.
The incident has cast a pall of gloom over the locality, with residents expressing shock and demanding accountability from both the cable agency and the electricity department for the hazardous presence of high-tension lines so close to work areas.
