West Singhbhum: A case of alleged assault and misbehaviour with a technical team engaged in smart meter installation has come to light in New Colony Neemdih under the Sadar police station area of West Singhbhum district.
Jitendra Yadav, site in-charge of Bantek India, the company carrying out smart metering work, lodged a written complaint at Sadar police station late Monday night. Based on the complaint, police registered a named FIR against tractor businessman Manish Ram and started an investigation.
Team Reached Residence to Install Smart Meter
According to the complaint, Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited has assigned Bantek India the work of installing smart meters. As part of the project, Jitendra Yadav reached Manish Ram’s residence in New Colony Neemdih on Monday afternoon along with colleagues Abhinandan Gupta and Ajay Singh.
The complaint states that the team explained the smart meter installation process to a person who came out of the house. After receiving verbal consent, the employees removed the old electricity meter and began installing the new smart meter.
It has been alleged that Manish Ram arrived at the spot during the process and questioned the employees. The team explained the smart meter installation procedure to him, following which he left the spot.
After some time, Manish Ram allegedly returned and asked the employees to show their authority letter. According to the complaint, the team showed him a valid authority letter, but he allegedly became aggressive and started abusing the employees, asking them to stop the work.
Employees Allege Assault and Threat
The complaint alleges that Manish Ram opposed the smart meter installation and started assaulting the employees. When Abhinandan Gupta and Ajay Singh allegedly intervened to stop the incident, they too were allegedly involved in a scuffle.
The complaint further alleges that after the employees informed the police and electricity department officials about the incident, they were threatened with being implicated in a false case of molesting a woman.
Police Begin Investigation
Following the incident, Electricity Department Executive Engineer Gautam Rana and the agency’s site in-charge reached the police station and submitted a written complaint.
Police have registered an FIR based on the complaint and started investigating the allegations.
