Chennai man called to repair power line dies of electrocution

CHENNAI: A 62-year-old retired employee of the State power corporation was electrocuted while repairing a faulty line allegedly at the behest of local officials in Chennai on Tuesday. Though he retired in 2019, his family said he was sometimes called for work due to a shortage of manpower in the corporation.

The deceased, S Radhakrishnan, a resident of Solaiappan Street in Old Washermenpet, lived with his wife and two sons, and had served as a line inspector at the Nammalwarpet unit of Kilpauk division, police said.

His son R Rajesh Kumar (24) told TNIE Radhakrishnan got a call from officials in Kilpauk division around 10 am, and went to AK Swamy Nagar near Purasawalkam to check the faulty line. “My brother and I had gone to work, so my father only informed my mother and left. By 2 pm, my younger brother David Prakash got a call from the Secretariat Colony police saying my father was electrocuted,” Kumar said.

He alleged the assistant engineer (AE), foreman, and two others were initially with his father, but then left him to work alone. “There were young able-bodied men who could have climbed the transformer. But the officials must have forced my father to do it,” said Kumar.

The Secretariat Colony police registered a case under Section 304(a) of the IPC. No officials were named in the FIR, but it is mentioned that an AE, foreman, and other staff were responsible. Radhakrishnan’s body was taken to Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital for a post-mortem examination, and his relatives, refusing to receive it, shouted slogans against TANGEDCO. After police officers intervened, the family received the body on Wednesday evening. 

‘Corpn had not hired him’

The police said even after retiring, Radhakrishnan used to be called and paid to work on faulty wires. A source at TANGEDCO maintained that the corporation had not hired him to do the work. But when asked how TANGEDCO allowed him to perform the task, the official said it would be clear only after an inquiry. R Murali Krishnan, secretary of BMS (Electricity Wing) Tamil Nadu Organisation, told TNIE over 25,000 field-level posts are vacant. Instead of filling them, section officers hire temporary staff. There is still no clarity on who will be held responsible for Radhakrishnan’s death.