Hyderabad: The battery of an electric scooter exploded while the vehicle was left charging on Wednesday morning in Nizamabad. The 80-year-old father of the vehicle’s owner died and four of his family members suffered burn injuries.
The police identified the person who died as B Ramaswamy. His son B Prakash, a tailor, has owned the electric scooter for about a year.
“A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 304A (causing death due to negligence) against the Hyderabad-based startup that had manufactured the scooter as well as the dealer,” said ACP A Venkateshwarlu to The Indian Express.
Sub-inspector Sai Nath of Three Town Police station commented that Prakash had separated the battery from the scooter and placed it for charging around 12:30 am. The battery exploded at around 4 am when his father Ramaswamy, mother Kamalamma, and son Kalyan were sleeping in the living room.
When taken to the hospital, Ramaswamy’s health deteriorated quickly but was announced dead while shifting for better treatment to Hyderabad. However, the injured family is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
There has been no response from the electric vehicle startup as of yet.
