Farmer commits suicide over inflated power bill in UP

Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 15 (IANS) A 50-year-old farmer committed suicide allegedly after he was handed an inflated electricity bill of Rs 1.5 lakh and slapped by officials when he said he did not have the money to pay it.According to the victim's family, the incident took place in the Sunaira village in Atrauli tehsil when the officials turned up at Ramji Lal's house and handed him a power bill of Rs 1,50,000.The power officials allegedly slapped the victim in front of his family members after he said that he did not have the money to pay the inflated bill.Ramji Lal tried to convince them to rectify the bill but in vain, said the family members.The victim's nephew, Ram Charan, and other family members complained at the Barla police station that the amount of Rs 1,500 had erroneously been shown as Rs 1,50,000 in the bill.When all efforts failed, Ramji Lal committed suicide by hanging himself on Sunday.In protests against the incident, the local people placed the body in front of the electricity department office and refused to proceed with the last rites until a case was filed against the SDO and junior engineer, who allegedly had gone to the victim's house and slapped him.Police assured the protesters that action will be taken after necessary procedures.Atrauli SDM Pankaj Kumar told reporters that necessary action will be taken against those found guilty and a case will also be filed against them after initial investigations.
--IANS amita/dpb