Hyderabad: Seven months after he died in a road accident in Shamshabad, the family of an Army veteran has launched an online petition demanding justice. Captain T.K. Rao (retired) was seriously injured when a car driven by a drunk doctor hit his car on July 16, 2016.
The petition is hosted on the website www.change.org and has 274 signatories. The website says that it will be delivered to the Telangana police once it gathers 500 signatures. Capt. Rao was returning from the airport after picking up his daughter Pallavi Pillutla and her two children who had returned from the US. Ms Pillutla, the driver and the children escaped. Capt. Rao, a former Corps of Signals officer, who was sitting beside the driver was badly injured. He died two months later.
The petition was launched by Ms Pillutla. She alleged that the accused had “purchased the police.” The other car was being driven by one Dr Siddhartha Darapuneni of Century Hospital, Banjara Hills. Dr Darapuneni and an air hostess who were in the car tried to escape, but were caught by passersby.
Ms Pillutla alleged that when the ambulance arrived to take her father, Dr Darapuneni tried to bully her and the ambulance driver to take Capt. Rao to Century Hospital. “I refused and shifted him to the nearest hospital,” Ms Pillutla said. She alleged that though her father was seriously injured, only a case of rash driving was registered against the doctor and it did not mention that he was drunk. She alleged that he had a blood alcohol level of 131 mgdl.
RGIA inspector M. Mahesh said the case had been altered to culpable homicide. “We opposed his bail. He secured bail from the HC. We have moved a petition before the High Court to cancel the bail,” he said.
