Infosys employee killed in road mishap on way to mother's funeral

HYDERABAD: A 32-year-old Infosys employee and his sister-in-law died after a cab in which they were travelling hit a truck from the rear on the National Highway-65 near Kodad in the early hours of Monday.
It was a double tragedy for the family as the Infosys employee and his kin were travelling from Hyderabad to West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh to attend the last rites of his mother.

Though relatives and locals alleged the lorry driver stopped the vehicle negligently on the road without any hazard warning, the Kodad Rural police said the lorry was not stationary. Police suspect the accident took place as the cab driver dozed off on the wheel while driving at high speed.

The victims were identified as Arumilli Veera Venkata Satyanarayana and his wife's sister Gullapalli Venkata Madhuri. Satyanarayana's wife Venkata Sowjanya, who is pregnant, and cab driver K Rajesh escaped with minor injuries. Police booked a case based on a complaint lodged by Satyanarayana's uncle A Veeraraghavulu.

Satyanarayana's family is native of Siddantam in Penugonda of West Godavari district and staying at RTC Crossroads in the city.

"Satyanarayana's mother died of cardiac arrest around 12.15am on Sunday. After receiving the information, they started from RTC Crossroads by booking a cab. The cab driver hit a lorry which stopped in the middle of the road," Veeraragahavlu told TOI.

Kodad Rural sub-inspector M Vijay Prakash said, "The accident took place around 4.30am on Monday near Komarabanda Crossroads. Ola cab driver K Rajesh, 22, a native of Narayanpur in Yadadri district, was also injured in the mishap. The cab driver was driving at high speed and possibly dozed off on the wheel and hit the moving lorry from the rear. Satyanarayana and his sister-in-law Venkata Madhuri died on the spot. His wife Venkata Sowjanya survived the accident with minor injuries."

Police said the cab driver survived with injuries as he was wearing seatbelt. "Satyanarayana and other passengers in the car were not wearing seatbelts. Satyanarayana got hit to the windshield and there was a serious injury on the face and head. The cab driver tried to apply brakes, but it was late by then," Vijay Prakash added.

"Satyanarayana completed engineering from SRKR Engineering College in Bhimavaram. Later, he got a job in Broadridge in campus recruitment. From there, he moved to Infosys in Bengaluru. He got married 13 months ago and got transferred to Hyderabad. His wife is pregnant now," Veeraragahavlu said.