A day after a striking Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) staffer set himself on fire and died, three more employees of corporation attempted suicide on Sunday. The police and others managed to prevent two of the employees who had attempted to end their lives while one hanged himself to death.
The victim is identified as 46-year-old B Surendra Goud, who was posted as a bus conductor in Ranigunj depot. Goud committed suicide at his newly built house near Markandaya Bhavan under Khulsumpura police station limits.
Goud is the second TSRTC employee to have committed suicide. A day before Goud’s suicide, a bus driver identified as Srinivas Reddy at the Khammam depot of the state road transport corporation, set himself on fire on Saturday. He suffered 90% burn injuries and was moved to a hospital in Hyderabad, where he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning.
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Two other employees also tried to end their lives but were rescued by the police.
The spate of suicide attempts comes after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced the dismissal of around 48,000 TSRTC employees, who are on an indefinite strike from October 5. Employees are demanding the merger of the RTC with the government.
The unions of transport employees have called for a statewide strike on October 19 to draw the attention of the state government and persuade it to give in to their demands. The 48,000 or more employees are yet to receive their salaries for the month of September since the state government claims that they have been terminated from service.
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