T'gana govt sets up helpline for kin of Hyderabad-Bengaluru bus accident victims
Hyderabad (PTI): The Telangana government on Friday set up a helpline to assist the families of passengers of the Hyderabad to Bengaluru private bus, which was involved in an accident in Kurnool district of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
The government, in a release, said that its officers M Sriramachandra (M 9912919545) and E Chittibabu (M 9440854433) can be contacted for help.
The helpline was set up following a directive by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who spoke to government Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and DGP Shivadhar Reddy.
The Chief Minister instructed IAS officer S Harish and also Collector and Superintendent of Police of Gadwal district of Telangana, neighbouring Kurnool district, to reach the accident site and coordinate relief measures.
According to a Telangana government release, 43 people were on board the ill-fated bus. Of them, 23 managed to escape the tragedy, while 11 dead bodies have been found.
Details of the remaining people were being verified.
Meanwhile, Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said he would hold a meeting with his Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka counterparts to devise measures to prevent such accidents, given the high volume of daily bus travel between Telangana and Karnataka via Andhra Pradesh.
In a video posted on X, he warned private bus operators of strict action if they showed negligence in maintaining vehicle fitness and adhering to statutory regulations.
The owners should follow rules and ensure that the buses do not overspeed (as the private buses are known to travel at a high speed), Prabhakar said.
The ill-fated bus was registered in Odisha and was operating between Hyderabad and Bengaluru, he said.
The routine checks conducted by the transport department are often termed as harassment, he added.
Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and other leaders condoled the loss of lives in the bus accident.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
