KARIMNAGAR: Young Sai Kiran is still in shock. After his father N Babu went to Hyderabad to attend the Sakala Janula Samarabheri — the public meeting organised by TSRTC JAC on Wednesday — he had expected him to come back with rejuvenated hopes. But instead, Babu ended up breathing his last that day, having suffered a heart attack during the meeting.
Babu had been working as a TSRTC driver for the past 20 years and had been shocked when he received the news that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had decided to dismiss all the striking employees. “My father was the only breadwinner in our family and he had just lost his job. He was constantly worried about our future — especially mine,” said Sai Kiran.
Sai, who is doing an MBA course in Hyderabad, had returned to Karimnagar to collect his tuition fee. “But he did not have the money. We were thinking about how we will approach the college management and explain our situation to them,” he said. According to Ramesh, Babu’s brother-in-law, Babu seemed perfectly healthy before he left for Hyderabad. “We even played badminton together,” he said. Babu is survived by a wife, two daughters and a son.
Huge turnout for funeral
A huge number of RTC workers, their families and allies gathered near deceased RTC driver N Babu’s residence in Arepalli of Karimnagar on Thursday. However, tension prevailed as the police denied permission to the JAC leaders’ request that Babu’s body be kept at the Karimnagar bus depot-2 so that everyone can pay their final respects. The body was hence sent directly to his residence. A few leaders of CPM, CPI and JAC were arrested. Karimnagar BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, RTC JAC leaders Thomas Reddy, K Raji Reddy also attended the funeral.