Hazardous work: Victim of electric shock cries murder attempt
Accused MEPCO SDO says he doesn’t even know the victim.
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BAHAWALPUR:
A private electrician, who had fainted from an electric shock while working on electricity supply on Thursday last week, regained consciousness at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan, on Monday night and claimed that he was the victim of a murder attempt. He had lost his arms and a leg in the incident.
Abdul Hadi, an electrician at Basti Gulabian near Khanpur, told media people at the hospital that he had been working at the MEPCO Zahirpir Sub-division as a private electrician for some time. He said Zahirpir SDO Kausar Abbas and Line Superintendent Mudassar had received Rs33,000 from him to get him a job at MEPCO. He said he had waited for several weeks but they did not fulfil their promise. “I went to them last week and demanded my money back but they refused,” said Hadi. He said that he got into an argument with the line superintendent and the SDO over the money. “On Thursday, last week, Mudassar called me and took me to the SDO’s office where they asked me to repair an 11KV line…I went with a MEPCO driver and another MEPCO employee to the scene and climbed atop the electric pole to examine the wires.” He said he was repairing the line when electricity was resumed and he was injured.
Hadi fell down and when he came to, he found out that he had lost the use of both arms and his right leg. He claimed that the SDO and the line superintendent had tried to kill him.
His brother Abdul Ahad told reporters that while Hadi was unconscious, Abbas and Mudassar had visited the hospital and asked them not to report them to the police. He said they had given him Rs20,000 and promised to bear all the expense of Hadi’s treatment.
When contacted, SDO Kausar Abbas said he did not know the victim at all. He said the MEPCO did not hire private electricians to work for them and said Hadi was only trying to blackmail him. He said he was considering initiating a suit against him.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2015.
A private electrician, who had fainted from an electric shock while working on electricity supply on Thursday last week, regained consciousness at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan, on Monday night and claimed that he was the victim of a murder attempt. He had lost his arms and a leg in the incident.
Abdul Hadi, an electrician at Basti Gulabian near Khanpur, told media people at the hospital that he had been working at the MEPCO Zahirpir Sub-division as a private electrician for some time. He said Zahirpir SDO Kausar Abbas and Line Superintendent Mudassar had received Rs33,000 from him to get him a job at MEPCO. He said he had waited for several weeks but they did not fulfil their promise. “I went to them last week and demanded my money back but they refused,” said Hadi. He said that he got into an argument with the line superintendent and the SDO over the money. “On Thursday, last week, Mudassar called me and took me to the SDO’s office where they asked me to repair an 11KV line…I went with a MEPCO driver and another MEPCO employee to the scene and climbed atop the electric pole to examine the wires.” He said he was repairing the line when electricity was resumed and he was injured.
Hadi fell down and when he came to, he found out that he had lost the use of both arms and his right leg. He claimed that the SDO and the line superintendent had tried to kill him.
His brother Abdul Ahad told reporters that while Hadi was unconscious, Abbas and Mudassar had visited the hospital and asked them not to report them to the police. He said they had given him Rs20,000 and promised to bear all the expense of Hadi’s treatment.
When contacted, SDO Kausar Abbas said he did not know the victim at all. He said the MEPCO did not hire private electricians to work for them and said Hadi was only trying to blackmail him. He said he was considering initiating a suit against him.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2015.