Man electrocuted in Haripur

HARIPUR: A worker from a shop selling sanitary products was killed while his colleague was injured when the two accidentally touched a high-tension wire during an encroachment drive in Bazaar Loharan, Haripur.

Police and eyewitnesses told The Express Tribune when Additional Assistant Commissioner Irshad Khan saw an extended iron shed at Bilal Sanitary Shop, he asked the owner to cooperate with the police and remove the shed voluntarily, otherwise the encroachment squad would take action.

Listening to his advice, the shop owner asked two of his workers Raees and Ishtiaq to remove the shed.

However, the two did not see the bare, high-tension electricity wire hanging near the shed.

When they got on to it, both accidentally touched the power line, which killed Raees on the spot while Ishtiaq sustained burn injuries.

Both were rushed to the Women and Children Hospital in Haripur, where Ishtiaq was said to be in a critical condition. He was then taken to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

Traders in the area condemned the incident and termed the action illegal, saying the AAC broke the law as the provincial government had made the district and tehsil nazims responsible for encroachment drives.

Sharif, a local trader accused the AAC of discrimination during the campaign. “We demand compensation for Raees’ family,”
he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th,  2015.