West Bengal: '1 of 3 phases had live power'
Howrah/Tarakeswar: CESC workers had failed to switch off power supply to one of the three phases of the lamp post on which the tree that fire serviceman Sukanta Sinha Ray was to cut had fallen. This negligence on part of CESC led to Sinha Ray’s death. The three CESC workers present at the spot had allegedly told fire service officers there that power to the lamp post had been snapped.
Only after getting this confident all-clear from the CESC men did the fire officers ask Sinha Ray to climb a ladder to cut the tree.
Bally fire station OC Ramkrishna Saha said, “The three arrested CESC employees confessed to police during interrogation that they forgot to cut off the power supply to one of the phases of the lamp post. I was present at Belur police station when they were being interrogated. I had earlier repeatedly asked the three CESC employees whether they had switched off power supply to the lamp post and they said they had. They assured me that it was safe for firemen to start cutting the tree. To be doubly sure, I asked the CESC men to let us use their wooden ladder. I asked Sinha Ray to use that instead of our aluminium ladder and I was among those who held it in place as he climbed. Had he climbed the aluminium ladder, many, including myself, would also have been electrocuted. Sinha Ray was electrocuted the moment the hydraulic saw he was holding touched the lamp post. There can be no pardon for such negligence. We will seek the harshest punishment for the accused.”
Bally fire station OC Ramkrishna Saha said, “The three arrested CESC employees confessed to police during interrogation that they forgot to cut off the power supply to one of the phases of the lamp post. I was present at Belur police station when they were being interrogated. I had earlier repeatedly asked the three CESC employees whether they had switched off power supply to the lamp post and they said they had. They assured me that it was safe for firemen to start cutting the tree. To be doubly sure, I asked the CESC men to let us use their wooden ladder. I asked Sinha Ray to use that instead of our aluminium ladder and I was among those who held it in place as he climbed. Had he climbed the aluminium ladder, many, including myself, would also have been electrocuted. Sinha Ray was electrocuted the moment the hydraulic saw he was holding touched the lamp post. There can be no pardon for such negligence. We will seek the harshest punishment for the accused.”
In protest, fire servicemen across Howrah district did not join in any tree cutting or removing operations on Thursday.
CESC employees Raj Narayan Ray, Santanu Mahato and Kamal Akhtar were produced in a Howrah court on Thursday and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
In Sinha Ray’s Santoshpur-Uttarpara neighbourhood in Hooghly’s Tarakeswar, people tried in vain to comfort his mother Bijoli Devi. She was informed about his death only after his body reached the neighbourhood late on Wednesday. Sinha Ray’s last rites were performed at the local crematorium.
Sinha Ray’s mother kept crying throughout the day. “Every morning, he would talk to me before heading for work. He did so on Wednesday, too, saying he hoped to be back early,” she said.
Next Story
READ ON APP