A Travelling Ticket Examiner of the South Central Railways, B. Sanjeeva Rao, died of heart attack while on duty, at the Mantralayam Road Station, close to midnight of Wednesday.
The end came even as passengers on board 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 not looking into it.
The TTE reported for duty at Dharmavaram on Wednesday evening. As he was going around checking tickets, two couples picked up arguments with the TTE complaining about poor amenities.
The verbal duel that started on board, continued at Mantralayam Road Station where they lodged a complaint with Mr. Victor. The TTE also came to the Station Master's office and he explained that Guntakal was not a nominated water re-filling station for the train.
Even as arguments flew back and forth between the passengers and Railway officials, it is said that Mr. Sanjeeva Rao collapsed, gasping for breath. Immediate medical attention, in the form of CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) did not yield the desired results, police said.
A Railway doctor who was rushed from Guntakal to Mantralayam, examined Mr. Sanjeeva Rao and pronounced him dead. The cause of death, the doctor said, was heart attack with high blood pressure, a version that was confirmed at the post-mortem conducted at Adoni.
Later, the body of Sanjeeva Rao was sent to Dharmavaram by another train and is currently being brought to Anantapur town. A case was registered at the Adoni Railway police station and the two couples were detained for investigation.
The TTE, working out of the Dharmavaram Station, is survived by wife and two sons, both software engineers.
Grievance redressal
K. Sambasiva Rao, Chief Public Relations Officer, South Central Railway, Secunderabad, appealed to passengers to use the number 81212-81212 to send messages and get their grievance redressed. This facility he said, was tested and messages would be acted upon, by a senior official who would pass it on to the concerned for redressal.
