Centenarian freedom fighter passes away

Kurnool: Freedom fighter Narayana Rao died in his house in Kothapet here on Tuesday. He had been ailing with respiratory problem for the last few days.He was 104. He is survived by three sons and a daughter. District Collector C Sudarsan Reddy, Superintendent of Police Dr K Raghuram Reddy and other officials paid tributes to the departed freedom fighter and consoled the family members.

Born on January 26, 1909, in Sandel village now in Udipi district in Karnataka, Narayana Rao was the last child among the 13 children of Deva Rao and Yamuna. He participated in the freedom fighter struggle at the age of 12. He enacted plays to bring awareness among people about the atrocities of the British.

He had extensively travelled in Rayachur, Madanapalle and some areas which are now in Bangladesh during the freedom struggle. When the British police arrested the whole drama troupe, he used to tell the British police that he was only the activists and the rest of the people had no role in the movement.

He spent a few years in jail for participating in the freedom struggle. During the tour of Mahatma Gandhi in Pattikonda area, Narayana Rao accompanied him. He was a close confident of former chief minister Damodaram Sanjivaiah and Pendekanti Venkata Subbaiah. He was awarded Tamra Patra during the 26th Independent Day celebrations by the Central government. His sons Nanda Prasad and Chandrasekhar and Tejeswar and daughter Rajeswari said that the former governor Kumudben Joshi used to call on him whenever she was in Kurnool.