Patna: A man in Bihar died from severe heart attack after he was handed out an inflated power bill of Rs2.9 million (Dh163,726) for three months.
The incident took place at Mirjapur-Nayatola village in Bhagalpur district on Wednesday.
Reports said the victim identified as Gaina Lal Sah had got power connection for his flour mill from which he eked out a livelihood for his family.
However, a couple of days back, he got the shock of his life when he recieved an inflated power bill of Rs2.9 million for three months. He was so taken aback by the bill that he fainted on the ground and passed away soon thereafter, family members said.
“My father fell on the ground soon after seeing the inflated bill handed out by the power officials. He never stood up,” the victim’s son Ranglal Sah told local media on Thursday.
According to Sah, his father requested the power officials to make a correction in the inflated power bill, but they didn’t show any interest and instead began exerting pressure on him to pay the bill soon failing which his power supply would be disconnected. The officials fled the scene after the man died on the spot.
The police have recovered the body of the victim and begun investigations. “We have sent the body for post-mortem and are investigating the case,” a local police official Nasim Khan said. He said the police have registered a case against the power officials.
The distribution of inflated bills to consumers is quite common in Bihar, but this is for the first time that a faulty bill has claimed the life of a villager in the state.
