Andhranews

Gantyada (Vizianagaram), Aug. 20: Thousands of people including leaders of various political parties and Telugu Desam activists bid farewell to Kondapalli Paiditalli Naidu here on Sunday. The funeral was performed with full police honours.

The entire area was packed with crowds who converged on the place to pay their last respects to their beloved leader who died in a private hospital in Vizianagaram on Saturday. The body was kept for public view at his house on Sunday and later was taken to Kondapalli’s mangrove.

Among others, former chief minister and TD president N. Chandrababu Naidu, former Assembly speaker K. Prathibha Bharati, marketing minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Rajya Sabha member K. Rammohana Rao, TD politburo member P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, former MPs D.V.G. Sankar Rao, M.V.V.S. Murty, TD MLAs Pathivada Narayan- aswami Naidu and Padala Aruna, former MLAs Sobha Hymavathi, P. Suryanarayana, Appalanarasimha Raju, party senior leaders Tammineni Seetaram, Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao, joint collector M. Jagan Mohan, DRO Nageswara Rao and district SP Vikram Singh Mann placed wreaths on the body and paid homage.

Kadiri (Anantapur), Aug. 20: Minister for agriculture N. Raghuveera Reddy on Sunday said that the government is ready to discuss the prevailing drought conditions in Rayalaseema region in the present Assembly session.
Speaking to reporters here, the minister said that while people and farmers from coastal Andhra and Telangana suffer from floods, the people from Rayalaseema region face acute drought.

The drought is severe in Anantapur district in particular, he said. Directions would be issued to drought-hit district collectors after a detailed discussion on the issue in the Assembly, Mr Raghuveera Reddy said. He said that as per the directions of Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy he toured drought-hit districts of Anantapur, Chittoor and Kadapa, inspected crops and interacted with farmers.

He said that the government would take effective relief steps after examining reports of Anantapur collector. He said that the State government would represent the severe drought conditions to the Central government and seek relief measures. Mr Raghuveera Reddy said that the district never witnessed such low quantity of groundnut cultivation in the recent past. Nearly 90 per cent of the crop has dried up due to drought conditions, he said.

He directed the farmers to take up alternate crops like Bengal gram, green gram, custard and jowar. The government would provide seeds for the same on 50 per cent subsidy, he said.

Proddutur (Kadapa), Aug. 20: Minister for roads and buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohan Rao on Sunday said that works worth Rs 1,200 crores have come to a standstill due to sharp rise in the prices of the construction material in the State.

Speaking to reporters here, the minister said that works taken up under Nabard, Central Code Funds and various other schemes at a cost of Rs 1,200 crores has been badly affected. Due to a sharp increase in prices of cement and iron, contractors are not taking up works as per the agreements.

Mr Jakkampudi said that tenders would be called again for works worth Rs 150 crores by September 10 out of the Rs 200 crores works taken up so far. The minister said that the contractors were reluctant to take up the works even after State government agreed to sanction an additional five per cent funds.

He said that the roads and buildings department incurred a loss of Rs 95 crores due to the recent floods in the State. The minister said that proposals worth Rs 200 crores have been sent for Central government assistance and Centre released Rs 63 crores to take up relief measures.

Mr Ramamohan Rao said that the R&B department is yet to clear the bills worth Rs 3 to Rs 4 crores towards the construction of helipads as part of Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy visits to various parts in the State.

Ongole, Aug. 20: Following the Maoist attack on the Atmakur (M) police station in Nalgonda district and the killing of a sub-inspector, an assistant sub-inspector and a home guard on Friday night, police officials in Prakasam district are devising strategies to protect vulnerable police stations in plain areas.

As part of this, surveillance will be increased near police stations, additional forces will be deployed and all entry and exit routes between police stations and forests will be blocked. Patrolling on the main routes leading to police stations would also be intensified.

Speaking to this correspondent on Sunday, Markapuram officer on special duty Ranganath said that three companies of para military forces have arrived in the district and they would be deployed at vulnerable police stations.

The main thrust will be given to unarmed police stations, Mr Ranganath said. Police officials have completed the exercise of identifying vulnerable police stations in the district, and are trying to provide security to them. The Nalgonda incident has once again highlighted the vulnerability of police stations in plain areas.

Three years ago, Maoists blasted the police station building in the heart of Addanki town of Prakasam district.
Last year, Maoists attacked a police station in Chilakaluripeta town of Guntur district and killed police personnel. These two attacks were in the plain areas. According to reliable sources, police personnel are also concerned over attending duties in vulnerable police stations in the plain areas of the district.

Police received information that some action teams are active in the district and could target vulnerable police stations in the district. About 10 police stations are poorly equipped and prone to Maoist attack.

Ongole, Aug. 20: Following the Maoist attack on the Atmakur (M) police station in Nalgonda district and the killing of a sub-inspector, an assistant sub-inspector and a home guard on Friday night, police officials in Prakasam district are devising strategies to protect vulnerable police stations in plain areas.

As part of this, surveillance will be increased near police stations, additional forces will be deployed and all entry and exit routes between police stations and forests will be blocked. Patrolling on the main routes leading to police stations would also be intensified.

Speaking to this correspondent on Sunday, Markapuram officer on special duty Ranganath said that three teams of para military forces have arrived in the district and they would be deployed at vulnerable police stations. The main thrust will be given to unarmed police stations, Mr Ranganath said.

Police officials have completed the exercise of identifying vulnerable police stations in the district, and are trying to provide security to them. The Nalgonda incident has once again highlighted the vulnerability of police stations in plain areas. Three years ago, Maoists blasted the police station building in the heart of Addanki town of Prakasam district.
Last year, Maoists attacked a police station in Chilakaluripeta town in Guntur district and killed police personnel.

These two attacks took place in the plain areas. According to reliable sources, police personnel are also concerned over attending duties in vulnerable police stations in the plain areas of the district. Police department received information that some action teams are active in the district and could target vulnerable police stations in the district.

About 10 police stations in the plain areas are poorly equipped and prone to Maoist attack. Sources said that police stations in Darsi, Donakonda, Podili, Tangutur, Kanigiri, Singarayakonda were vulnerable, and underlined the need to fortify these station buildings.

Tirupati, Aug. 20: Ten passengers from Tamil Nadu, including three women and three children, were killed and 25 persons injured when the bus in which they were travelling hit a lorry near Tadaku village of Puttur mandal in Chittoor district in the early hours of Sunday.

The injured have been admitted to the Government Hospital in Puttur and Ruya Hospital in Tirupati. The condition of five of the injured, who were admitted to Ruya Hospital, is stated to be critical. According to the police, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus from Chennai, bound for Tirupati collided with a speeding iron rod-laden lorry near a culvert at Tadaku village at around 4 am on Sunday. The mishap site is around 90 km away from Chennai.

The bus left Chennai central bus station at 1 am with 52 passengers and was supposed to reach Tirupati at 5 am.
All those sitting near the windows, were killed on the spot, most of them in deep sleep. One-year-old Venkatesh, Rajkumar, 12, Thainayagi 24, Bhumadevi, 32, Mahalakshmi, 6, of West KK Nagar, Chennai, Audilakshmi, 24, of Valleswaram, Perumal, 42, Manikandan, 35, and Sathishkumar, 30, of Nagur Nagapatnam died on the spot.

Police is yet to confirm the identity of a woman aged around 40 who was killed in the accident. Puttur circle-inspector Subbanna rushed to the spot and commenced rescue operations. The injured include bus driver Manimaran, conductor S. Govindrarajulu, Krishnamurthy, 41, of Chennai, Ramaswamy, 40, of Koilpatti, Nur Khan, 32, and Saib Khan, 45, of Kadapa, Kadiravan, 20, of Chennai, Premavathi, 56, Vittal Narayana, 58, of Kanchi, Jhansiraj, 45, Reshma, 3, Thulasiram 20, Muthu, 25, Bhaskar, 32, Palani, 35, Ramalingam, 40, Karthikeyan, 20, Palanivel, 52 and Swaminathan, 20 of Chennai.
One of the injured, Muthu, 25, of Chennai, blamed the driver for the incident. He said that he noticed the bus going at a high speed when he woke up from sleep at about 3.30 am.

Ongole, Aug. 20: The long cherished dream of the Muslim community to have a shadikhana in the town is yet to be fulfilled due to the negligent attitude of the government. Congress leaders, while campaigning during the 2004 Assembly polls, assured Muslims that a shadikhana will be constructed in the town.

But, even after two-and-a-half years of Congress rule, no progress has been made in this regard. According to estimates, Muslims constitute 10 per cent of the total population of about two lakh in the town. They have long been requesting the government to construct a shadikhana to perform marriages and conduct other functions.

The Ongole civic body during the TD rule passed a resolution and allocated one acre of land in Uracheruvu area and sanctioned funds for shadikhana. Former minister for marketing and godowns Damacharla Anjaneyulu laid foundation stone for the construction on July 24, 2003.

The previous Telugu Desam government sanctioned Rs 25 lakhs for the construction of shadikhana of which Rs 15 lakhs was sanctioned by the government and another Rs 10 lakhs by a Telugu Desam MP. Another Rs 25 lakhs are needed for the construction of the building. However, the stone now stands amid a pile of garbage. Congress town legislator Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, who was in Opposition in 2003, visited Muslim colonies during poll campaign and promised to sanction funds for shadikhana. Muslim community leaders made representations to ministers Mohammed Fareeduddin and Muhammad Shabber Ali to sanction funds, but in vain.

Kakinada, Aug. 20 : Internal squabbles in the Congress-ruled Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) are coming to the fore. Hectic efforts are being made by some senior corporators to isolate mayor Saroja. It is said that this move could pave the way to turn the tables on her mentor and local MLA Mutta Gopalakrishna who is ruling the roost in the corporation affairs.
The corporation, right from being upgraded, is facing one ordeal or the other since January 2005. Elections to the body in August 2005 paved the way for more controversies rather than solving civic problems.
According to political observers, groupism, internal squabbles, nepotism and opportunistic politics of some leaders and corporators caused much damage to the 139-year-old civic body’s reputation in a span of few months.
Selection and election of mayor and deputy mayor and the election to the standing committees were completed amidst group politics.

The alleged frequent interference of the local MLA in the corporation affairs, the misuse of funds in the corporation , both in the revenue and town planning departments. The controversies and allegations of corruption in the construction activities on endowment sites further widened the gap between the groups. Observers assess that the attitude of MLA in dealing with party corporators owing allegiance to other groups added fuel to the fire.

His reported oral instructions to the corporation staff and officials not to care about other groups in attending to works in their divisions irked many corporators and added insult to the injury. In this backdrop, a meeting was organised by senior corporator Ch. Adinarayana at his residence.

It was attended by 33 ruling corporators out of the total 34. Mayor Saroja was not invited to the lunch. Some Telugu Desam corporators too attended the meeting. According to sources, based on the response, senior corporators Kampara Ramesh, D. Lakshmana Rao and Basava Chandramowli are making hectic efforts to bring all ruling corporators under one umbrella to isolate the mayor.

Sources added that this move is expected to bring down the MLA’s hold on the corporation. His critics point out that he was not consulted in the appointment of the new commissioner Venkateswarulu a few days ago. They claim it as their triumph as party bosses in Hyderabad have recognised the damage caused to the party’s image because of the frequent interference of the MLA in the corporation affairs.

Kakinada, Aug. 20: Emphasis is being laid on the development of non-conventional energy reso-urces in East Godavari to meet the growing needs of energy and power generation. Speaking to mediapersons on Renewable Energy Day which is also being celebrated as Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas on Sunday, Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (Nedcap) district manager Satyanarayana said that the corporation was exploring all possibilities of increasing the production of non-conventional energy resou-rces.

The Nedcap official said that the production of biogas, biomass, solar energy, wind energy and hydro-energy was given top priority in the district in the last few years. He said that the production of energy throu-gh these sources would be environment-friendly. He also said that units to generate power from rice husk and sugarcane waste and municipal waste (garbage) were being encouraged in the district. The units are likely to go for production in a year, he added.

In addition to this, special efforts are being made to generate power from mini-hydel units, tidal waves and through other means. Power generation from tidal waves will also be taken up in the near future, he said. Generation of power through non-conventional energy resources and the production of biogas was accorded top priority in view of lack of threat to the environment.

To mark the day, a rally was organised by students of various schools and colleges from the TTD junction to the collectorate. The rally was flagged off by Mr Suryanarayana.

Karimnagar, Aug. 20: City Congress president Akarapu Bhaskar Reddy attempted suicide here on Sunday in protest against the alleged injustice meted out to him by minister for sports M. Satyanarayana Rao. Mr Reddy, one of the senior Congress leaders in the district, made a vain bid to end his life by consuming sleeping pills near Rajiv Gandhi’s statue in the city on the occasion of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

According to sources, Mr Reddy arrived at the Rajiv Chowk in the wee hours, garlanded the statue and placed a letter as well as a small booklet containing the details of his “relentless services” to the party for the last 23 years at the statue. He then swallowed 26 sleeping pills and collapsed in front of the statue.

On noticing him in an unconscious state, the sanitation workers alerted the police. The One Town police immediately shifted Mr Reddy to a private hospital where he was given the treatment. As the news spread across the city, scores of Congress workers and leaders besides the supporters of Mr Reddy thronged the hospital.

The supporters of Mr Reddy staged a rasta roko at the Ambedkar statue in protest against Mr Satyanarayana Rao accusing him of showing discriminatory attitude towards their leader. Government whip D. Sridhar Babu, District Congress Committee president Santosh Kumar, Markfed chairman P. Prabhakar, MLAs J. Rathnakar Rao and T. Jeevan Reddy and others visited the hospital and enquired about the health condition of Mr Reddy.

Meanwhile, speaking to newsmen after regaining consciousness at the hospital, Mr Reddy said that genuine workers like him were being denied due recognition due to the biased attitude of the minister. His wife Lakshmi demanded that the police make public the letter reportedly written by her husband.

The Congress also cancelled various programmes organised on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi birth anniversary due to the incident. Meanwhile, the police registered a case against Mr Bhaskar Reddy for attempting suicide.

Nizamabad, Aug. 20: State Red Cross Society secretary Dr Rajyalakshmi said that they had decided to set up Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs) in all the government schools right from Class VIII to create awareness on AIDS. She visited the district on Sunday to examine the feasibility of setting up blood banks at various government hospitals and also to distribute clothes and ex gratia to the flood victims at Armoor.

Former Allahabad High Court Judge Justice A. Lakshman Rao and former Gandhi Medical College principal Dr Venkaiah also accompanied her. Dr Rajyalakshmi visited Kamareddy area hospital and decided to open a blood bank there for the convenience of the poor and needy patients.

Speaking to newsmen, she said that AIDS was rampant in the district and added that the State Red Cross Society had decided to fight against the disease. Referring to setting up new blood banks, she said that so far they had opened 17 blood banks and 89 blood storage centres in the State.

The State Red Cross Society was also planning to open another five blood banks and 16 blood storage centres in the State. In Nizamabad district, they were opening new blood banks in Nizamabad and Kamareddy towns and three blood storage centres in Armoor, Bodhan and Banswada mandal headquarters soon.

Later, Dr Rajyalakshmi distributed 200 blankets, 200 saris, and 200 lungis to the flood affected victims in Armoor town. An amount of Rs 2,000 was also paid to family members of a person who died in the heavy rains.
District collector and chairman of Red Cross Society Srinivas Srinaresh was also present.

The Red Cross Society team visited Nizamabad and Bodhan to open new blood banks. Nizamabad Red Cross Society secretary Dr Ramchander, State Red Cross executive member Ramchander Rao and others gave a warm welcome to the Red Cross Society team members at Kamareddy.

Warangal, Aug. 20: With the reports indicating that a couple of Maoists from the district took part in the attack on Atmakur (M) police station in Nalgonda district, the district police have intensified their vigil on the movements of the Maoist dalams.

It was also reported that a top Maoist Naveen alias Sudarshan belonging to the district was one of the masterminds behind the attack in which two police personnel and a home guard were killed.

The top police officials instructed the Agency area police stations to be on alert against any possible attacks by the Maoists and to keep a strict vigil on the Agency area dalams which are adept in attacking police stations. The Maoists who are keeping a low profile for the last couple of years in the district without any major “action,” were being deputed to other districts to carry out some sensational actions.

In view of the tough policies of the police, who could develop informer network, there were no major actions from the Maoists in the district. The fear of reprisal from the police and the firm hold they established over the Agency and forest areas in the district drove the Maoists into the neighbouring Chhattisgarh forests.

Similarly, some more Maoists were drafted into other districts from North Telangana districts, where the police have been enjoying an upper hand over them in the last couple of years.

Adilabad, Aug. 20: Integrated Tribal Welfare Agency (ITDA) project officer Saurabh Gaur on Sunday sought cooperation from teachers working under the ITDA to bring the education system on track in tribal areas.

In a statement issued here, the ITDA PO said that it was the duty of every government officer working under the ITDA, including himself, to strive for the welfare and development of tribals.

The statement assumed importance following agitation by teachers against the project office alleging that he had slapped one teacher during inspection of a tribal ashram school at Degoam in Indravelli mandal a few days ago. The Joint Action Committee of Teachers’ Associations demanded the surrender of the project officer.

Mr Saurabh Gaur refuted the allegation that he had slapped the teacher and added that he had seriously warned teacher on his negligence in maintaining cleanliness in the school. This was project wrongly, he added.

Meanwhile, various tribal organisations extended their support to the project officer and strongly opposed the demand for his surrender. They said that he was doing his best for the welfare and development of tribals.

Warangal, Aug. 20: Local leaders from the Opposition parties in the district have formed a joint action committee (JAC) to fight the decision of the State government to sell Azam Jahi Mills land. The joint action committee, comprising the Telugu Desam, CPI, CPI(M) and the TRS, has decided to agitate until the State government changes its decision to auction the mill land.

The JAC also rubbished the statement issued by the Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (Kuda) that it would use the amount raised through the sale of Azam Jahi Mills land for the development of the city. Telugu Desam municipal corporation floor leader Gundu Sudha Rani, who is taking active part in the agitation, has already staged a dharna in front of the closed Azam Jahi Mills.

She said that the Congress government should respect the sentiments of the people, who wanted an apparel park and textile park and whose foundation stone was laid by then chief minister N. Chandrababu Nai-du. “Even Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had assured the locals of establishing the apparel pa-rk and textile park. But now he plans to sell it.” CPI district secretary Na-gaiah ridiculed the Kuda’s claim and asked the State government to sell the Kuda to raise the money for the development of the city.

Nizamabad, Aug. 20: The State government is plan-ning to provide medical insurance to archakas (priests) working at registered temples in the State. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy has reportedly taken this decision during a meeting with the commissioner of endowments to review the welfare of archakas.

Later, the endowment commission issued orders to assistant commissioner in various districts to prepare a list of archakas, eligible for the scheme and send it to the commissioner office in Hyderabad within a week. Assistant commissioner of endowments, Nizama-bad, K. Srinivas Murthy said that he had sent a list of 64 archakas to the commission office a couple of days back.

Revealing more details about the scheme, Mr Murthy said every archaka would get a mediclaim policy for Rs 1 lakh and they have to pay Rs 350 to either the National Insu-rance Company (NIC) or the United India Insurance Company (UIIC) every month at local branches.

Insurance companies will bear expenses for hosp-italisation for listed diseases upto Rs 1 lakh. The assistant endowments commissioner would be responsible for forwarding the applications to the respective insurance company with all details, including medical certificates, of the archaka, Mr Murthy said.

Reacting to the State government’s proposal, Suhas, a 32-year-old archaka at Sri Neela Kanteswara Swamy temple here, said that it was a boon to the archaka community.

Guntur, Aug. 20: The general body meeting of the Zilla Parishad here on Sunday made a scathing attack on the district administration for its failure in crisis management during the recent floods. Indirectly accusing district collector G. Jayalakshmi, the MLAs representing the constituencies on the banks of river Krishna and the ZPTC members of the respective mandals, said that people in the flood-affected areas were being neglected.

Minister for cooperation and transport Kanna Lakshminarayana was also of the same opinion and charged the officials of being ignorant on representing the woes of the public. Repalle MLA Devineni Mallikarjuna Rao held the collector responsible for the denial of payment of insurance of the previous year to the farmers in his constituency. According to him, the bankers insisted and curtailed Rs 2,700 from the loans towards the premium.

Though the premium was paid, the farmers did not get the insurance as the collector failed to represent their case properly, Tenali MP V. Bala Souri said, “This time the premium has been enhanced to Rs 5,000, but there is no guarantee to the deprived farmers of getting the insurance.”

Agreeing with his colleagues, the minister advised the district officials to understand the guidelines and the rules of the insurance authorities.
“There should be coordination between the agriculture and revenue officials in presenting the farmers’ woes within the framework in order to get the compensation from the insurance authorities,” the minister said. The district officials should have sent proper report on the crop loss, he added.

During the discussion on the construction of bund for Krishna river which was raised first by Duggirala MLA Gudibandi Venkata Reddy, the members once again pointed out the inability of the collector in getting the funds from the State government. The members also criticised the district officials for being lackadaisical in providing relief.

At the beginning of the session, the general body elected members for seven standing committees to look after planning, rural development, agriculture, education, medicine, women welfare, social justice and other works. For the general body, nine MLAs and an MP out of 19 MLAs and four MPs attended.

Guntur, Aug. 20: Han-dloom workers in cooperative societies have been starving due to lack of employment.
As the societies are not in a position to pay them wages, most of the workers are looking for alternative vocation.
The cooperative societies are in neck-deep troubles with the accumulated arrears from the Andhra Pradesh Weavers Cooperative Society (Apco). Hence, they could not provide proper work to the members. Out of 47 handloom cooperative societies in the district, only 26 are functioning.

However, the production of handloom fabrics is very meager in these societies. Therefore, only a few dozens of workers are getting work and hundreds are left in the lurch. The Apco has not been paying for the fabrics purchased from the societies. It has to pay an average amount of Rs 1.5 lakh to small societies and Rs 3 lakhs to the big ones. According to the organisers of the societies, hege arrears are pending for the last three months.

The workers on the looms and those who have woven thread on the spinner should be paid every week. The male workers get Rs 500 and the female workers Rs 200 a week. But, due to lack of working capital, most of the societies stoppped production.

Speaking to this correspondent, Mangalagiri MLA M. Hanumantha Rao said he would me-et the Apco officials soon. “I want to raise the issue of delay of payments by Apco in the Assembly,” he said.

Relatives blame apathy for death

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 20: The casualty medical officer of King George Hospital (KGH) had to run for his life here on Sunday when he was roughed up by angry relatives of a patient who died in the hospital. The relatives alleged that the doctor demanded money for treatment and did not take proper care even after accepting the bribe.

Parasuram Srinivas, 26, a stores manager in an MNC fast food outlet, was injured in a road accident in the wee hours of Sunday at Kottavalasa while he was on his way to the city from S Kota on a motorbike. He was rushed to the KGH at around 6 am.

The relatives alleged that no doctor attended though the patient suffered serious head injuries. Later, the advice of the KGH doctors, relatives took the patient to a nearby diagnostic centre for a CT scan. At around 11 am, the patient died. Angry over the development, the relatives barged into the room of the casualty medical officer P. Bangarayya and beat him up severely alleging that he demanded money to treat the patient. They said his negligence caused the death.

The seriously injured Bangarayya, bleeding all over, ran to the One Town police station and came back to the hospital with the police protection.

Vajrapukotturu (Srikakulam), Aug. 20: Three persons from this district, working as welders in a private company for the past two years, died on the spot and another sustained serious injuries in a road mishap in Dubai on Saturday.

The deceased were identified as Battina Sriramulu, 32, of Peddamuuraharipuram, Naupada Venkatesw-ara Rao, 30, of Amalapadu and Sangaru Ramamohana Rao, 28, of Uddanam Ra-makrishnapuram. While, Pucha Appa Rao of Peddamuraharipuram sustain-ed serious fractures to his arms and legs. The relatives of the victims rece-ived the information about the mishap on Sunday.

According to informati-on, the deceased were travelling in a trekker which collided head-on with a lorry coming from the opp-osite direction. Sriramulu’s younger brother Battina Simhachalam told this correspondent over phone that they were returning to their place of stay after they failed to get flight reservation. Efforts are on to bring the bodies to India. Sriramulu is survived by his wife and daughter, while Mohana Rao leaves behind his parents and his wife. The third deceased Venkateswara Rao is survived by his wife and a three-year-old son.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 20: The casualty medical officer of King George Hospital had to run for his life here on Sunday when he was roughed up by angry relatives of a patient who had died in the hospital.

The relatives alleged that the doctor had demanded money for treatment and did not take proper care even after accepting the bribe. Parasuram Srinivas, 26, a stores manager in an MNC fast food outlet, was injured in a road accident in the wee hours of Sunday at Kottavalasa while he was on his way to the city from S. Kota on a motorbike.

He was rushed to the KGH at around 6 am. According to the relatives no doctor attended the patient despite the fact that he suffered serious head injuries. Later, on the advice of the KGH doctors, relatives took the patient to a nearby diagnostic centre for a CT scan. At around 11 am, the patient died.

Angry relatives then barged into the room of the casualty medical officer P. Bangarayya and beat him up severely alleging that he had demanded money to treat the patient. They said his negligence caused the death. The seriously injured Bangarayya, bleeding all over, ran to the One Town police station and came back to the hospital with the police protection.