Rash driving by contractor kills youth

HYDERABAD: The mangled remains of an autorickshaw and a twisted electricity pole bear testimony to the rash driving by 70-year-old contractor Srinivas Rao, which claimed the life of an 18-year-old kirana shop attendant on Monday night. While the absence of streetlights on the road leading to Praja Rajyam Party office on Jubilee Hills make it look ominous and impair visibility after dark, it was the fact that Srinivas was driving at a speed of 80 kmph on the narrow road in the residential area that led to the loss of a life and resulted in critical injuries to another. On his way back home around 10.30 p.m., Srinivas Rao ran over Bharat, a grocery store attendant who had gone out to throw trash. He was smashed to the compound wall of his store as the Mercedes Benz driven by Srinivas hit a waiting auto, injuring the driver. Bharat died on the spot while the auto driver Konnappa is said to be in a critical state at Apollo Hospital. The car came to a halt only when it hit an electricity pole.Kiran Devi, the daughter of the kirana store owner, recalled last night’s incident, “As the car hit the electricity pole, there was a power blackout. Only when the power came back did we see Bharat’s body lying near the compound wall of our house. By then he was dead.” According to bystanders who apprehended the accused, Srinivas was drunk but police reports indicate otherwise. “He was not drunk. There are medical reports to indicate it,” Jubilee Hills sub-inspector K Srinivas said. The accused was produced before a magistrate on Tuesday by the Jubilee Hills Police.The victim Bharat hailed from Rajasthan and had come to the city seven months ago in search of a job. He was working as an attendant in a grocery store owned by a family from his village. His parents were dependent on the money he sent them and could not even come to the city to collect the body due to their poor financial status.