49-year-old woman rings temple bell, dies of electrocution in UP

AGRA: A 49-year-old woman allegedly died due to electrocution after she touched a metal bell while offering prayers at a Shiva temple in Agra. The incident took place amid rain and windy conditions at Iradatnagar's Puseta village on Monday when Pushpa Devi, a local, had visited the place alone.Angry villagers later claimed that a high-tension overhead wire passing next to the mandir may have come in contact with the metal trident (trishul) on top of the dome-shaped roof. Current purportedly flowed down through a chain tied to the temple bell and other metal objects at the premises, they added.Blaming the electricity department for "negligence", residents alleged that the line was passing perilously close to the temple and had not been addressed despite their safety concerns.Iradatnagar SHO, inspector Ramkumar Tomar, said, "Probe is on and appropriate action will be taken accordingly."Meanwhile, dismissing the allegations, Kapil Sindhwani, chief engineer at Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, told TOI: "This is not the fault of the HT line, but the temple's wiring. If the current had come from the HT line, supply at the local power house would've automatically tripped; that did not happen. And there would have been loud explosions in the temple, which also did not occur. So, it could've happened only due to some leakage in the temple's wiring.

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