MSEDCL officials booked after two techies died in transformer fire in Kharadi

Pune – Chandan Nagar police station has booked unidentified officials of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) for negligence due to transformer fire in Kharadi on May 11.

The deceased Priyanka Anandrao Zagade (24) of Satara and Pankaj Krushnarao Khune (27) of Wardha were employed with an IT company in Kharadi. On May 11, they had stepped out of their office around 4.30 pm for a cup of tea and went to a tea stall on the footpath near Zensar company telephone centre in Kharadi.

While they were waiting for their orders to come, a fire broke out at the tea stall. The two techies were critically injured and were rushed to separate hospitals in the city. The tea stall was completely gutted and the man and the woman sustained serious burns. They succumbed to injuries few days later.

The family members of the deceased had claimed that the fatal fire was sparked by an explosion in a transformer on the footpath. However, MSEDCL officials had then ruled out the transformer explosion theory and lodged an FIR against the tea stall owner for running an illegal stall and causing damage to the transformer.

After investigation, police found that the LT cable on the transformer premises was damaged but the MSEDCL didnt take precautionary measures. Thus there was explosion in LT cable which led to fire at the tea stalls and transformer and the death of the two techies.

Based on complaint from PSI S Y Patil of Chandan Nagar police, the FIR has been registered against the unidentified officials of MSEDCL who were responsible for upkeep of the LT cable. They have been charged for offences under sections 304a (causing death due to negligence), 427 (damage to property) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

PSI R B Rajput is further investigating the case.