A day after five men were electrocuted during a Krishna Janmashtami procession in Ramanthapur, over 200 locals gathered on Tuesday evening for a candlelight rally in the area. The march began from the Shivalayam in Old Ramanthapur and concluded at Yadava Sangam in Gokhale Nagar, with the participants paying homage to the deceased.

Earlier in the day, smaller protest rallies were carried out in different parts of the neighbourhood, with residents demanding justice, accountability from power authorities and greater safety measures to prevent such tragedies during public gatherings and festivals.

The accident was reported around midnight on Sunday when devotees attempted to manually pull a 10-foot chariot after the towing jeep broke down. The metal frame of the chariot brushed against a live overhead electric wire, electrocuting five men and injuring four others.

The deceased were identified as Rajendra Reddy, 48, Srikanth Reddy, 35, Rudra Vikas, 39, Suresh Yadav, 34 and Krishna alias Diamond Yadav, 21. All were active members of the local community and had taken police permission to conduct the procession.

“This incident was purely because of the negligence of the electrical department. We lost five young men because of that. If you see now, not one wire is seen. Had this been done before, we would have them with us. We want such diligence from them before any untoward incident happens, not after we lost lives,” said Sarva Babu Yadav, a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) representative.

Officials from the Uppal police remained at the site to maintain bandobast and prevent any untoward incidents. The rally concluded peacefully.