Fourth person injured while saving Telangana woman tehsildar dies

K Chandraiah, 52, who had suffered 60% burns in the attack on November 4 and had been undergoing treatment at Apollo-DRDO Hospitals in Hyderabad, suffered sudden cardiac arrest.

Twenty-eight days after a woman block revenue official was burnt alive in her office in Telangana’s Ranga Reddy district, her office attendant succumbed to the burn injuries sustained while trying to save her at a hospital early on Monday, doctors said.

28-year-old Vijaya Reddy was set on fire by a farmer, Kura Suresh, over a land dispute that was pending in the high court and died on the spot. (Photo by Special arrangement)

K Chandraiah, 52, who had suffered 60% burns in the attack on November 4 and had been undergoing treatment at Apollo-DRDO Hospitals in Hyderabad, suffered sudden cardiac arrest.

“We kept him on the ventilator and tried to resuscitate him, but his pulse dropped rapidly and he breathed his last at around 4am,” doctors said.

The body of Chandraiah was shifted to Osmania General Hospital for an autopsy. His family members along with revenue employees are staging a sit-in protest demanding that the state government must pay compensation for his death to his relatives.

Chandraiah was the fourth person to die in the incident last month when the 28-year-old Vijaya Reddy was set on fire by a farmer, Kura Suresh, over a land dispute that was pending in the high court and died on the spot.

Her driver Kamalla Gurunatham, 27, who sustained 80% burns while trying to save her succumbed a day later.

Three days later, Suresh also died at the Osmania General Hospital in Hyderabad, while undergoing treatment for his 65% burns.