The city police on Friday confirmed that the police patrolling vehicle in which Three Town Station House Officer K. Eswara Rao and Home Guard Santosh were travelling had hit a stationary lorry near Yendada at around 3.30 a.m. on Thursday. While the Inspector died on the spot, Santosh is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Initially the police assumed that the road accident was a hit-and-run case. However, after checking CCTV footages on the Yendada-Madhurawada-Tagarapuvalasa route, the police had zeroed in on the three vehicles and finally caught a vehicle near Ramabhadrapuram in Vizianagaram district.
According to police, the lorry driver had parked the vehicle on the side of the road near Yendada and had gone to attend the call of nature. The driver of the lorry reportedly panicked after the incident and drove away, without attending to the injured persons, the police said.
Family members of Eswara Rao have conducted final rituals at PM Palem on Friday morning. Senior police officials, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACPs) of all zones, Inspectors, batch mates of attended the funeral. He was accorded a official state funeral with gun salute.
Some of his colleagues, batch mates and those who worked with him are still in a state of shock and described him as a hard working officer. But at the same time they lamented that the presence of airbags might have saved him. “We are given the cheapest vehicles but not the safest ones. Almost all our vehicles are basic models that do not have airbags,” said an officer.
They also pointed out that long duty hours, due to shortage of staff, are taking a toll on their physical and mental health. It is learnt that the driver was on duty for the last two days and there was no second driver as reliever.
Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha said that Eswara Rao was one of the most sincere, honest and bravest officers of the department. Expressing condolences to the family of the police officer, the Police Commissioner said that it was a huge loss to the department.
Eswara Rao had joined the police force as a constable in the year 1998. He had worked in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam (Both City & Rural). He is survived by two children. His son is working in a bank in Chennai, while his daughter has been married.
