The underground supply line that sprung a major snag in Beleghata, leading to a 40-hour power cut. Picture by Amit Datta

Residents of a Beleghata neighbourhood, seething with rage over a power cut that continued for more than 40 hours, vented their ire on a journalist on Tuesday morning.

Shyamal Jana, a photojournalist of Star Ananda, was beaten up while he was covering a blockade organised by Napitbagan residents to protest the power cut since Sunday evening. Jana, a resident of the locality, alleged that the assailants were all “CPM cadres”.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee “condemned” the incident and said he had asked his party colleague and local MLA Manab Mukherjee to “look into the matter”.

Mukherjee said: “If our cadres are found to be involved in the incident, they will be punished.”

Three men were arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Jana. “They have been identified as Raju Ray, Bhaja Pramanik and Prabir Ray,” said Partha Sarathi Ghosh, deputy commissioner (eastern suburban division).

Supply was restored “temporarily” after the blockade on Beleghata Main Road and the assault on the journalist.

CESC attributed the power cut to a “major fault” in the underground supply line. “The entire cable, 350 m long, will have to be replaced,” said an official.

Power supply in Napitbagan went off around 5pm on Sunday, affecting more than 80 families, most of whom were also forced to go without water.

Residents complained that several of them had fallen ill because of the heat.

Tushar Roy had to shift his ailing 70-year-old father to a relative’s place. “He is suffering from a cardiac ailment and severe asthma. I had to shift him yesterday, as his condition deteriorated following the power cut,” said Roy.

His neighbour Gobinda Das had to shift his nine-month-old son to his aunt’s house on a doctor’s advice. “My son was feeling unwell due to the heat,” said Das.

What added to their woes was an acute water crisis. “My water pump stopped working, forcing us to collect water from roadside taps,” said Biswajit Kar.