Bodies to be handed over to family members

By Our Sports Reporter

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 24. The bodies of the five chess players from Andhra, who were killed in a road accident near Bhubaneshwar enroute to Puri on Sunday, were put on the Falaknuma Express this afternoon, according to Mr. Bala Prasad, special officer of National Games.

Mr. Prasad, who has been coordinating the entire efforts since the mishap took place, informed `The Hindu' that the bodies of Dasari Minu and Haricharan would be handed over to their family members in Guntur, that of Mekhala Abhinav in Nalgonda while the bodies of Maturi Hemamadhuri and Kasipeta Sekhar will be brought to the city on Tuesday morning.

In a rare and spontaneous gesture, the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, under the guidance of Mr. Prasad, swung into action immediately this morning and deputed two officials from Chess Association of Hyderabad, Maj.Shiva Prasad, president, and Mr. Sameer Kumar, secretary, alongwith a Nalgonda chess official, Mr. Karunakar who are familiar with the players.

A deputy director of SAAP was also rushed to the accident spot to hasten the process of handing over the bodies. In fact, Mr. Prasad personally got in touch with the District administrative and police authorities in Cuttack and saw to that the official delegation from Andhra boarded a flight this morning to Vizag and from there to Bhubaneshwar.

The State Government is expected to come out with some announcements regarding ex-gratia payment.

Meanwhile, in a condolence message, Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy, Leader of Opposition, expressed profound shock at the demise of the five players in the accident. ``I appeal to the State Government to release ex-gratia to the family members of the players keeping in view their contribution to the State,'' the statement added.

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