Home guard Ravinder succumbs to burns, Congress demands Rs 25 lakh ex gratia

HYDERABAD: Home Guard Nagam Ravinder passed away at the DRDO Apollo hospital on Friday, succumbing to severe burn injuries. Ravinder working at the Chandrayangutta traffic police station allegedly attempted suicide on Tuesday vexed with inordinate delay in receiving salary for two months.

According to police, Ravinder (HG 8025) arrived at the Commandant’s office of home guards near Goshamahal police stadium and enquired about the possible date of receiving salary. Upset over the negligent response from the authorities, he poured petrol on his body and set himself on fire. Some of his colleagues immediately dowsed the fire and shifted him to the hospital.

However, Ravinder’s attempt to kill himself by suicide took a political turn with the Congress and the BJP alleging that the Telangana Government had deceived the home guards that their jobs would be made permanent. The BJP State president and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy visited the DRDO Apollo Hospital on Thursday and said that the Government should keep its word by making the posts of 20,000 Home Guards as permanent employees of the police force.

Large number of home guards and the family members of Ravinder reached Osmania Hospital where his body was taken for postmortem. “My husband was a strong-willed person and he would never resort to suicide. I suspect that ASI Narsing Rao and constable Chandu poured petrol on him. They even deleted the CCTV footage and unlocked my husband's phone to delete the data. One of the officers took me aside and asked me to lie about my husband's death so that our family would receive full benefits, I want justice,” Sandhya, wife of the deceased Home Guard told media at the Osmania mortuary.

Meanwhile, TPCC president and MP A Revanth Reddy in a statement on Friday described the death of Ravinder as ‘official killing’ and asked the Government who would take care of the two young sons of the home guard. “The Congress demands one Government job to the kin of the deceased, an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh, assurance of free education to the sons of the home guard and regularisation of all the 20,000 home guards working under different police stations in the State,” Revanth Reddy said.

Later, a delegation of senior Congress leaders led by Revanth Reddy met DGP Anjani Kumar and sought financial help for the home guard’s family. The Congress pointed out that the home guards had not received their salaries for the past five months as a result of the severe financial crunch the State Government was facing.