Mentally ill man climbs 340-foot electric tower in Swarupkathi

A mentally unstable man climbed a 340-foot-high power transmission tower in Swarupkathi upazila of Pirojpur, causing a five-hour power outage across the upazila on Tuesday.

The man, identified as Shankar Bepari Bahadur (38) of Durgakathi village in Samudayakathi Union, was rescued by local youths and later handed over to his family.

According to locals, the incident occurred near the Sena Camp area, where two high towers connect the main power line supplying the upazila. Shankar climbed the tower in the morning, and when locals asked him to come down, he climbed even higher.

Following the alert, the electricity department shut down the power supply to avoid any mishap.

Shankar’s mother, Alo Rani Bepari, said he had been suffering from mental illness since childhood.

Nesarabad Fire Service Station Officer Monirul Islam confirmed the rescue after nearly five hours of frantic effort and handed Shankar over to the police. Later, police returned Shankar to his family.

Jane Alam, deputy general manager of Nesarabad Palli Bidyut Samity, said the entire upazila was without electricity for five hours as the main line was shut down during the rescue operation.