Official Negligence? Mishap kills lineman in AJK

MUZAFFARABAD: An employee of the electricity department was electrocuted in Dhirkot area of district Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday. According to police, lineman Gul Afsar was repairing the electricity line in Chamyati  village of Tehsil Dhirkot  some 65 kilometres away from Muzaffarabad when a sudden power surge from the main grid station was restored. Afsar received a serve electric shock and was immediately killed. The incident prompted a protest by local people in Dhirkot, who blocked the Dhirkot-Bagh road for two hours. Protestors demanded that the AJK government punish the officials who resumed the power supply in the electricity line during the repair work.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2016.