Police must start murder cases against people involved in stealing electricity if someone gets electrocuted after touching a wire used for power theft, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Wednesday.
Hakim’s comments came in the wake of two deaths in Ekbalpore on Sunday.
An elderly woman and her daughter died possibly of electrocution while trying to save another family member who got an electric shock while hanging clothes out to dry on an iron wire in front of his house in Ekbalpore Lane.
The police suspect power theft in the locality was responsible for the electrocution.
Hakim held a meeting with Kolkata’s police commissioner Vineet Goyal at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s headquarters on Wednesday.
“The police have to file strong cases against the accused. If someone dies because of electrocution and it is found that the accused was trying to steal electricity by using the wires, the police should initiate a murder case against the accused,” Hakim said after the meeting.
“The person should not be able to get bail soon because many of these people are released on bail and repeat the same thing.”
Late on Wednesday evening, officers of Kolkata police’s detective department said at least four cases have been started for electricity theft.