A 12th standard student and his friend were electrocuted on Manalurpet Main Road near Tiruvannamalai town on Tuesday after they touched the overhead electrical cable while they tried to erect banners as part of their friend’s birthday celebrations. Both of them are the only child for their parents, who are farmers and wage workers.

Police said the deceased were identified as R. Lokesh, 14 and his friend R. Dhanush Kumar, 18, who has written the 12th board examination recently. They are neighbours and reside in Tiruvannamalai town.
 
Initial inquiry revealed that as part of birthday celebrations of B. Kannan, a classmate, Kumar and his friend Lokesh, a school dropout, came to the stretch along with other friends to erect banners on steel poles near a 110 KV electrical transformer. As the duo tried to tie both ends of the banner to the poles, they accidentally touched overhead electrical cables that connected to the transformer. 

They were electrocuted. Based on the alert, Tiruvannamalai Town police recovered the bodies and sent them to Government Medical College Hospital in Tiruvannamalai. A case was registered. A probe is underway.