Assam: Minor boy dies of electrocution in Charaideo

GUWAHATI, June 24, 2018: In a tragic incident, a five-year-old student of an Aganwadi Kendra was electrocuted after he came in contact with a live wire which was lying on the ground near his school at Sonari in Charaideo district on Saturday.

The boy has been identified as Manish Munda. He was the youngest son of Gunju Munda, a tea garden labourer, and a student of Teok Gaon Anganwadi centre in Teok Bengali village.

Sonari is the home constituency of state power minister Tapan Kumar Gogoi.

Sources said Manish had left the centre alone at midday when he was electrocuted.

"The boy died because of the negligence of the power department. We demand an inquiry into how the live electric wire was lying on the ground," a local said.

The residents refused to hand over the body to police for post-mortem. They demanded the presence of senior district and police officials besides Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) staff at the Anganwadi centre.

The crowd relented only after two additional deputy commissioners and the additional superintendent of police of Charaideo arrived at the kendra and spoke to them.

The Assam power minister announced a one-time financial assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh to the boy's family members and ordered a probe.

Locals said the power line snapped on Friday night during a severe thunderstorm. They said the local electricity office was informed about the wire in the morning but no steps were taken.

Source: The Telegraph

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