Hyderabad:
Another Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) driver allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday in Mahabubabad district as the indefinite stir by the employees’ unions entered the 40th day.
A Naresh, 45, consumed some poisonous substance at his house in the early hours and was rushed to a hospital by his family where he died, police said.
Already, four RTC employees had ended their lives and some others attempted suicide in different parts of Telangana since the strike began on October 5.
A senior police official said Naresh resorted to the extreme step apparently “upset” whether the ongoing RTC issue would be resolved.
A purported suicide note in the name of Naresh allegedly mentioned that the state government was not responding properly to the stir, the official said and added that its authenticity has to be verified.
Scores of TSRTC workers and employees along with members of some political parties took his body in a procession from the hospital towards the RTC depot raising slogans against the government.
The protesters also forcibly removed the barricades put up police on the main road, and later held a protest with the body in front of the depot.
Following intervention by police and assurances by district officials regarding to look into his family demands for ex-gratia, among others, the protest was withdrawn.
Nearly 48,000 employees had boycotted work and commenced an indefinite stir across Telangana on a call by the Joint Action Committee of TSRTC employees’ unions, demanding merger of RTC with the government, pay revision, recruitment to various posts, among others, resulting in state-run buses staying off the roads causing inconvenience to commuters.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier said under o circumstances would the RTC be merged with the government and said the employees’ stir was illegal as they caused immense inconvenience to the public.
