An RTC driver, Koppolu Vishnu (58), died of heart attack while driving his bus near Chandur mandal headquarters village in Nalgonda in the early hours of Sunday. He was supposed to retire on attaining the age of superannuation on Tuesday.
Vishnu stopped the bus by the roadside and breathed his last behind the steering, it was stated.
Protesting against alleged denial of leave by Traffic Inspector of Nalgonda depot of RTC Lavanya, the family members and relatives of Vishnu placed the body under a shamiana in front of the depot gates till late on Sunday night. As a result, the entry or exit of buses from the depot was barred. Vishnu was said to have sought leave as he was unwell but Ms. Lavanya refused to concede the same as he had only three days of service left. She argued that he would lose retirement benefits if he was on leave on the day of retirement. His leave letter was recovered from his pocket after his death.
The bus had returned from Hyderabad on Saturday night and halted for overnight stay at Gundrapalli village, 60 km from Nalgonda. It left for Nalgonda in the early hours of Sunday but Vishnu could barely drive 10 km up to Chandur when he applied the brakes by the presence of mind and died immediately.
