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AURANGABAD: A 40-year-old vegetable vendor, who erroneously received a massive electricity bill of Rs 8.64 lakh for April, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling at his residence at Bharat Nagar here on Thursday morning.

Police said a suicide note found on the man read that he was ending his life after having received the exorbitant bill. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) said it has suspended a billing clerk for the error.

The man, Jagannath Shelke, received a bill of Rs 8,64,781 for the consumption of 55,519 units for his two-room tin shed where he lived with his family for the last 20 years.. A release issued by the MSEDCL states the section engineer at its Garkheda station incorrectly punched the meter readings as 61,178 KWH instead of 6,117.8 KWH. Consequently, at the time of validation in March, a bill was generated for more than Rs 8.6 lakh. The release said Shelke's electricity meter had been replaced on January 10 as there were some doubts about its functioning.

The Pundaliknagar police station has registered a case of accidental death for now.

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