Two engineers of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) were arrested on Monday in connection with a transformer blast that killed a father and daughter on March 23.
The two engineers have been booked for causing death due to negligence under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code. They were released on a station bail at Jnanabharathi police station and not sent to prison.
On March 23, a transformer blast killed Shivaraj, 55 and his daughter Chaitanya, 19 at Manganahalli Cross, Jnanabharathi. Acting on a complaint by their family members who alleged negligence by BESCON officials leading to their deaths, the Jnanabharathi police arrested Assistant Engineer Dinesh and Junior Engineer Mahantesh, who were in charge of the area where the transformer exploded.
A senior police official said there were reports that despite recent complaints, the transformer was not attended to and even on the day of the explosion, calls to the BESCOM helpline did not yield any results.
“These are part of the ongoing investigations. We have sought details of all calls, complaints connected to this transformer both before and on the day of the incident and how they were acted upon. If others are found to have played a part in negligence and delay in attending to the complaint, we will book them as well,” a police official said.
The incident had created a furore in the State. Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar informed the Legislative Assembly and Council last week that BESCOM officials have been directed to conduct an audit of power transformers located near schools, footpaths, and other sensitive locations in Bengaluru, and that the power utility would pay compensation of ₹10 lakh each the bereaved family.
While also announcing that special attention would be paid to transformers over 15 years old, the minister said that some people had informed the BESCOM officials about problems in the transformer, but officials had not taken quick action and the transformer exploded.
