Four men died of electrocution during a Muharram procession in Jharkhand’s Bokaro under Petarwar police station. The incident happened when a portion of Tazia – a miniature replica of the tomb of Imam Hussain – came in contact with a high-tension electric wire of 11,000 volts.
Thirteen people are seriously injured, of which seven are critical, and their treatment is under way at a local hospital. The incident happened in wee hours on Saturday when Tazia was being shifted to Imambara.
Those who died in the electrocution are Asif Raza, 21, Enamul Rab, 35, Gulam Hussain, 18, and Sajid Ansari, 18.
Block Development Officer (BDO) of the area Shailendra Chaurasia said, “The incident happened when Tazia came into contact with high voltage wire. Four people have died and 13 got injured.”
Jharkhand Excise Minister Baby Devi visited Bokaro General Hospital to enquire about the injured and also met their family members. She expressed deep grief over the incident and said that the government would try to help the family members of the deceased. She also announced that the government would give ex gratia to the family.
Bermo MLA Jai Mangal Singh too visited the hospital and said that the Electricity Department would give a compensation of ₹2 lakh to each family member of the deceased and ₹1 lakh to those who are injured. Chief Minister Hemant Soren also expressed deep grief over the incident.
Deputy Commissioner of Bokaro district Kuldeep Choudhary said that Tazia procession was carried out at 17 places in the morning and power was cut at 16 places. He further said that investigation on why power was not cut in the area where the incident took place is on.
