HYDERABAD: TM Nandeeswara Babji had just received his new uniform from the tailor, purchased new shoes and was all set to join as an additional SP. The newly promoted cop was on his morning walk in Hayathnagar on Saturday. Around 4.40 am, he was mowed by a speeding APSRTC bus.
“Our happiness that he got a promotion turned out to be short-lived,” Babji’s family members lamented. Rachakonda IT cell ACP Narender Goud had worked with Babji in TRANSCO Vigilance and known him for over 15 years. Speaking to TNIE, Narender said, “Babji was soft-spoken. He just did his duty and had no issues with other officers. I was heartbroken when I heard about his death at 5.30 am on Saturday. I had just called him two days ago and greeted him when he got promoted.”
His is not the only life that was snuffed out on the roads of Hyderabad on Saturday. On the same day, Prabhavathi Chathriya, a Class 10 student was returning home on a bike driven by her 21-year-old elder brother after writing her SSC exam. The bike was hit by a bus on Gachibowli around 1 pm. She died on the spot.
Later on Saturday, around midnight, two cars collided with each other on the Outer Ring Road near Exit 18a. One person was killed and at least two others suffered serious injuries. Speeding is the likely cause, say police.
These are not isolated incidents. Four to five precious lives are lost in road accidents each day in the Hyderabad, Rachakonda and Cyberabad police commissionerate limits, shows data from 2023 and 2024. Death on the roads due to overspeeding, drunken driving, wrong-side driving and other traffic violations has become part of everyday life in the city.
