Businessman Amaresh was engrossed in work when he received what would be a devastating phone call at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. It was an unknown number, and when the caller identified himself as a police officer, Amaresh could feel his pulse racing as he imagined a dozen possible reasons behind that call.
He went blank for a minute, not knowing how to react, when the cop on the other end broke the news of his parents-in-law Suri Babu and Sunitha and two other relatives being killed in a road crash barely three hours ago. “I prayed for it to be a lie, but the inspector clearly told me that my wife’s parents are no more,” Amaresh told The Hindu over phone, adding that the next step — sharing the tragic news with his wife Monika — was tougher than he had imagined.
Equally disturbed was Rama Devi, sister of Suri Babu. A resident of Hyderabad, she learnt about the fatal accident from a relative and rushed to the accident site in Wanaparthy.
Sunitha’s sister, Manjula was also inconsolable when she heard the news. “It was the biggest shock of my life. I am unable to digest that my mother, sister and brother-in-law are no more,” she said.
She said Suri Babu, who hailed from Hindupur of Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district, had moved to Hyderabad 15 years ago in search of livelihood and started a cushion making business. He, along with Sunitha and his mother-in-law Rajeshwari, was driving back from Kurnool after three days of wedding festivities at a close relative’s place, never to return home alive.
“He was doing well in his business, and his family life was a happy one too. A few years ago, he married off his daughter, Monika, to Amaresh, who is based in Anantapur,” Manjula said, fighting back tears.
Suri Babu resided in Badangpet where he had built a house.
