Case against 2 PSPCL engineers after cloth merchant commits suicide

A case was registered against a superintending engineer (SE) and a junior engineer (JE) of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) after a cloth merchant allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front a train here.

According to a complaint lodged by Karanpreet Singh, the victim's father, Jatinderpal ended his life as he was allegedly not allowed to pay his pending electricity bill in instalments.

"Jatinderpal was not doing well in his business and had suffered losses. His electricity bill also accumulated to over Rs 96,000," Singh said.

He had requested the SE and the JE to allow him to pay the bill in instalments but his requests were turned down, Singh alleged.

Karanpreet said about three days ago, the PSPCL employees had disconnected their electricity connection.

An upset Jatinderpal left the house last evening and later called up his wife, Maninder Kaur, to inform her that he had decided to end his life, Singh said.

A suicide note was found in Jatinderpal's pocket. In the note, Jatinder had blamed the SE and the JE of the PSPCL for "insulting him and not letting him pay his dues in monthly instalments," police said.

A case under sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 of the IPC was registered against the SE and the JE, and an investigation was underway, a Government Railway Police (GRP) official said.