Kalighat: The uncle of the two-year-old boy, who was electrocuted after coming in contact with a refrigerator on a pavement in the Kalighat area, was on Tuesday arrested for causing death by negligence.

Mithilesh Sharma was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by the father of the child.

The fridge that allegedly encroached upon more than half the pavement along Sadananda Road, behind Basusree cinema, belonged to Mithilesh, a tailor by profession who lives next door. He had allegedly kept the fridge, containing bottles of beverages for sale, on the pavement outside his tailoring shop.

"The refrigerator was kept on a public passageway and the boy touched its wire, the accused cannot deny his negligence," said an officer of Kalighat police station.

Bardhan, alias Chiku, was playing with his seven-year-old sister Sonakshi in front of their house in the Dhobikhana slum on Monday afternoon when he fell. The pavement was wet from rainwater and he touched the wire at the rear of his uncle's fridge with wet hands while getting up.

The boy was declared dead at SSKM Hospital.

The police seized the fridge on Monday but electricians are yet to test it.

Mithilesh was granted bail but if convicted, he could be jailed for up to two years.

Several confectioners keep refrigerators on pavements, posing a risk to passersby. "Most pavements are illegally occupied in the area. Sometimes, we alert the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) about it. On a few occasions, we have asked shop owners to clear the pavement," a police officer said.

The CMC pleaded helplessness. "The child's death is tragic. We do not have the manpower to deal with the issue. For police, it is a much easier task," said a civic official.