Salesman dies after being hit by uprooted telephone pole

Amritsar, Mar 18 (UNI) A salesman was killed after being hit by an uprooted telephone pole outside the Saragarhi school close to City Kotwali police here today.

According to official sources, Rohit, a salesman at a medical store in the Katra Sher Singh locality died after an uprooted telephone pole hit him on the head while he was on the way to his shop. The pole got uprooted after a portion of the outter wall of Saragarhi school wilted under the weight of a large heap of sand that was piled up on the other side of the wall.

The Saragarhi school is being demolished under the Elevated Road Project to the Golden Temple. The project funded by the central government is being executed jointly by Gammons India and Amritsar Municipal Corporation.

The police has registered a case under section 304 of the IPC. A number of shopkeepers of Katra Sher Singh who came out into the street protesting against the death of the salesman have demanded that the contractor hired for ferrying the sand should be booked and arrested as the telephone pole had wilted under the impact of the heap of sand piled close to the wall of the school.

Deputy Commissioner K S Pannu handed over an amount of Rs 2.5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and promised additional compensation to be provided by the state government.

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