The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought the Action Taken Report (ATR) from the Odisha government pertaining to the death of an old farmer in Talagopbindha gram panchayat in Bhadrak district due to electrocution.

It asked the Superintendent of Police, district collector of Bhadrak, and principal secretary, the department of energy, Government of Odisha to furnish a detailed ATR within four weeks in connection to the farmer’s death.

“Principal secretary, department of energy, should also submit a copy of the report of the Electrical Inspector u/s 161 Electricity Act, instead of merely forwarding a report of the Discom(Distribution Company),” the commission said in its order on Tuesday.

The apex rights watchdog passed the order acting on a petition filed by Supreme Court advocate and human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy. Tripathy in his petition said the victim, a 65-year-old poor farmer, went for agricultural activities and died due to electrocution by live snapped electric wires on October 23, 2023. Ashwini Jena was electrocuted to death while coming across snapped live electric wires.

“This fatal incident happened while the deceased poor farmer went for agricultural activities,” the petition said.

“Had the electricity officials taken care of adequate safety, security and precautionary steps for the snapped wires, this type of fatal incident would have been avoided. This shows the negligence of the electricity department towards the safety and security of the public and gross violation of human rights.”