Hundreds gather at MGM Hospital to pay tributes to Damera Rakesh

Warangal: Hundreds of people including the TRS party activists, and leaders have gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital here on Saturday, and mourned the death of  Damera Rakesh, who was killed in the police firing at the Secunderabad railway station on Friday. Wearing black ribbons and scarves, they raised slogans against the Modi led Union government holding it responsible for the loss of a youngster who dreamt of serving the nation by joining the armed forces.

The scene at this government run hospital reminded the tragic scenes witnessed following the sacrifices of lives of people during the Telangana movement. Several leaders including Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Satyavathi Rathod, MLAs Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, Nannapuneni Narender and others have visited the mortuary at the MGM Hospital where the body was kept and consoled the parents and other family members of Rakesh. 

The parents of Rakesh, Kumara Swamy and Poolamma were still in shock over the most dreadful event that claimed the life of their only son. They lamented that their son wished to serve the nation and sacrifice his life for the sake of



the protection of the country, but he was killed in the police firing. “I demand the Central government to withdraw the Agnipath scheme to save the lives of many other youngsters as they were not happy with this new scheme,” Kumaraswamy said while he was fighting to hold back his tears. Mother Poolamma was seen weeping inconsolably over the death of her son.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must apologize to the nation and to the parents of Rakesh over the Agnipath scheme. “Modi is playing with the lives of lakhs of youths who are dreaming to join the armed forces with the introduction of the Agnipath. He must withdraw the scheme immediately,” Rao demanded. Meanwhile, the body will be shifted to Dabeerapet village in a mini-truck in a procession to perform the final rites.

Bandh evokes good response: Meanwhile, the bandh call given by the TRS party over the tragic incident has evoked good response in the district, particularly in the Narsampet Assembly constituency. Educational institutions and commercial establishments remained closed in Warangal and Narsampet.