“Arey itna bill (Such a hefty bill)”. These were the last words that 50-year-old daily wage worker Jitu Ram exclaimed on Saturday before slumping on the ground unconscious.

Jitu was standing in front of his dwelling when a team of electricity department officials allegedly informed him about dues of ₹25,000 and suggested that he should pay it or face disconnection. He was taken to a government hospital in the area but he had passed away by then.

Protests erupted soon after and the villagers blocked the nearby roads to demand action against the erring officials, who had come to recover the due amount. The protesters alleged that the electricity department officials were handing out hefty bills to people without any reason.

Chhavindra Prasad Singh, electricity department executive engineer at Sheohar, told The Telegraph that a team of officials led by junior engineer Chandrakant was on its way to one Goharaha village in the neighbourhood of Jitu’s Nayagaon Purvi village for revenue collection and further actions.

“Some people were standing in Nayagaon Purvi village while the team was going to Ghoraha. The officials asked them to pay their dues and went ahead. When the team reached its destination, information came about the death of the person. How is the electricity department responsible for this?” Singh told this newspaper.

The executive engineer added that the deceased had a prepaid smart electricity meter at his house but had dues of ₹4,500 earlier. Neither Sheohar superintendent of police Shailesh Kumar Sinha nor Shyampur Bhataha station house officer responded to calls from this newspaper.