Warangal:The funeral of TGSRTC driver Kola Shankar Goud, who died after immolating himself during the strike, witnessed dramatic standoffs between the police and political leaders and RTC workers at Muthojipet village in Narsampet town of Warangal district on Friday.
Emotional outbursts and physical scuffles lasted from the early hours of the day until sunset. Shankar breathed his last around 2:30 a.m. at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Friday, where he had been undergoing treatment for severe burns after he immolated himself in Warangal during the ongoing RTC strike.
By the time Shankar’s body reached his native village Muthojipet in Narsampet mandal during the early morning hours, news of his death had spread across the state. This led to a massive influx of RTC workers, union representatives, and BJP and BRS leaders at the village.
Former minister Satyavathi Rathod and former MLAs Peddi Sudarshana Reddy and Gandra Venkatramana Reddy demanded that the funeral procession pass through the Narsampet RTC depot, where Shankar had worked.
However, police, citing law and order concerns, rejected the proposal. This led to a heated argument and a physical confrontation between the BRS leaders and police. To prevent the situation from spiralling out of control, police forcibly arrested the BRS leaders and shifted them to the area police stations.
Situation turned even more volatile around noon when union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar arrived at Muthojipet. He questioned the police’s refusal to allow a final visit to the depot where Shankar had worked for 25 years. Subsequently, Sanjay, along with RTC workers and BJP activists, tried to shift Shankar’s body to the bus stand. A group of people even tried to forcefully lift the coffin and place it in an ambulance to drive it toward the Narsampet depot.
Recognising the gravity of the situation, Warangal police commissioner Sunpreet Singh rushed to the scene to negotiate directly with the union minister and the RTC JAC leaders. After nearly an hour of intense discussions and a telephonic dialogue with state government representatives, they reached a compromise.
Sanjay Kumar addressed the crowd stating that the decision of the family and the JAC leaders would be final. Following this, the family agreed to proceed with the funeral ceremony. Amidst heavy security, Shankar Goud’s family members and relatives performed his last rites at Muthojipet in the evening.
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