A Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) of the South Central Railway, B. Sanjeeva Rao, died following a heart attack while on duty at the Mantralayam Road Station, around Wednesday midnight.
The 57-year-old man collapsed even as passengers aboard train no. 22601 Chennai-Shirdi Express were complaining to Mantralayam Road Duty Station Master John Victor that there was no water in the train and that the TTE was unsympathetic. Earlier on Wednesday evening, as the TTE was checking tickets, some passengers began an argument which went on till the train reached the Mantralayam Road station. When the passengers went to complain to the Station Master, the TTE explained that Guntakal was not a nominated water re-filling station for the train.
As the argument between the officials and unrelenting passengers intensified, it is said that Mr. Sanjeeva Rao collapsed. A CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) did not yield results, police said. A case was registered at the Adoni Railway police station and the passengers were detained for investigation. Later, the body of Sanjeeva Rao was sent to the Railway Divisional Headquarters of Guntakal, where members of different unions staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Divisional Railway Manager, demanding an investigation and also seeking all benefits be accrued to his family.