While transporting an idol of Lord Ganesh in a tractor on the premises of Sri Sri University in Odisha on Tuesday, September 19, a student died of electrocution and four others were critically injured after coming in contact with a live wire. The university is a private one, located at Naraj within Baranga police limits.
The deceased Soham Bhagawan Sowale (26) was from the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. He was pursuing MSc (first-year) at the varsity. The condition of the other four students, identified as Sarbesh Parija, Ayush Kapoor, Arnab Adhikari and Tulasi Pal, who are currently undergoing treatment in a private hospital in the nearby city of Cuttack, is stated to be critical, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
As per news reports, the mishap occurred when the students were bringing the idol from Godi Sahi to the campus in the morning. As soon as the tractor carrying the idol entered the campus, the students chanted 'Hari Bol', played with 'abira' (red coloured powder) and also made reels for posting on social media.
However, the celebrations were short-lived. One of the students in the tractor waved a red flag tied atop a 12-foot high steel pipe which came in contact with an 11 KV live electric wire charging the iron body of the tractor trolley. As a result, three students fell from the tractor and two others sustained burn injuries.
The university authorities immediately shifted the students to a private hospital where Soham was declared brought dead. On being informed, a team of Barang police rushed to the spot and launched an investigation. University authorities are yet to submit a report on the incident, said Baranga IIC Akash Rana, as per TNIE.
