KTR trying to shield accused in flyover car mishap case: Congress

Hyderabad: The Congress party on Tuesday alleged that Municipal Administration & Urban Development Minister K. Tarakarama Rao was trying to shield the accused in biodiversity flyover car mishap case as the driver, Kalvakuntla Krishna Milan Rao, was his distant relative.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Minorities Department Chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail said that the accused, Kalvakuntla Krishna Rao, whose negligent and rash driving led to the mishap killing one woman and injured many others, was reportedly a close relative of TRS MLA from Koratla K. Vidyasagar Rao and a distant relative of Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekhar Rao. He said it was ridiculous on the part of KTR to constitute a committee to study the safety aspects of the flyover. He asked as to why the safety measures and other precautions were not taken before opening the flyover to the general public. "Since his relative is involved in the accident, KTR is trying to create a report to show that the accident occurred due to lack of safety measures and not due to the negligent and rash driving," he said.

Sohail said if the flyover was opened for the general public without taking the safety aspects into consideration then criminal cases must be booked against the GHMC officials, engineers, contractors and other related people. They should be booked for putting the lives of common people into danger.

Further, the Congress leader demanded that the State Government pay at least Rs. 50 lakh ex-gratia to the family of Pasala Naga Venkata Satyaveni, the woman who was killed in the mishap. Further, he alleged that the State Government was not taking care of the persons injured in the accident. He said 23-year-old K. Kubra from Ananthapur was among the injured persons. He said Kubra, an engineer, hails from a very poor family of Ananthapur. She was speaking to her father over the phone while waiting at the bus stop to tell him that she got selected for a job when the incident occurred. She was admitted to a private hospital. However, he said that the family members were forced to borrow Rs. 30,000 to deposit in the hospital for treatment. They were unable to arrange another Rs. 1 lakh demanded by the hospital authorities. "It is the duty of the State Government to provide 100% free treatment to the injured persons besides paying compensation," he said.

Sohail warned that the Congress party workers would lay siege to the GHMC headquarters if the victim's family was not paid increased ex-gratia and free treatment is provided to the injured persons. Further, he said a formal complaint would be lodged with the police for booking a case against GHMC authorities for ignoring safety measures before opening the biodiversity flyover.