HYDERABAD: Govind Rathod, husband of Telugu Desam legislator from Dornakal in Warangal district Satyavathi Rathod, died in a road accident at Ghatkesar today.
Rathod (52), an assistant sub-inspector in the Railway Protection Force (RPF), was returning to the city after conducting an investigation in a particular case. He was a resident of Tarnaka and was posted in the Secunderabad RPF.
According to the police, Rathod’s two-wheeler skidded off the road on the bridge at Ghatkesar on the Warangal highway leading to his instant death.
Though there were reports of foul-play behind the `accident’, police denied it. They said Rathod had gone to Ghatkesar in search of a person in connection with a case.
``After reaching Ghatkesar, Rathod came to know that the person he was looking for was at the Vangapally Gate and went there. After completing the inquiry, he was returning to the city on his two-wheeler when the mishap occurred,’’ police said. Malkajgiri assistant commissioner of police PV Padmaja, quoting eyewitnesses, said that Rathod’s bike skidded off the road while negotiating a left curve on the flyover. ``Rathod fell on his left and suffered injuries on the left side of his body. Though he was wearing a helmet he suffered internal injuries and was found with blood oozing out of his nose. There were several eyewitnesses to the accident and there is no foul-play in the accident,’’ she said. A drunk person, who initially claimed that he was witness to the accident, told the police that Rathod’s vehicle was hit by an unidentified vehicle intentionally.
``Enquires, however, revealed that Rathod fell off his bike at a dangerous curve,’’ Padmaja said.
The accident took place on the flyover on which former TDP legislator and home minister A Madhava Reddy had been killed in a blast triggered by Naxalites a few years ago.