TSRTC denies driver’s allegations

Hyderabad: The TSRTC authorities today made it clear that there was no truth in the reports that Shankar, a driver of Devarakonda depot in Nalgonda district, attempted suicide due to harassment by the RTC officials for not granting him leave.

They said the driver was absent from duty on April 18 and 19 without prior intimation and added that on April 20, duty was assigned by the officials to the driver.

In a statement, they said the depot officials were again approached for a Sunday holiday by him and added that the officials of the depot told him that they would look at the leave position and grant leave but did not deny leave.

The authorities said on Saturday, Shankar had shared a selfie video on WhatsApp groups in which he claimed that he was being harassed by the authorities by not granting him leave and was drinking pesticide.

 “The depot officials immediately rushed to the spot and took him to a local hospital. The doctors confirmed that the driver had not consumed any pesticide and discharged. At present, the driver Shankar is safe at his home.

The driver Shankar was involved in the incident deliberately. In the past too, there have been threats by him to the officials over holidays. His leave record is not good. In the last three months, driver Shankar has taken 10 regular leaves and 20 sick leaves,” they said.

The authorities made it clear that the corporation was running as per the rules in the matter of granting leave to the staff. They said TSRTC would not ignore such incidents which are damaging the reputation of the corporation and added that such incidents would be thoroughly investigated while noting that departmental action will be taken against those responsible in such incidents.