Thin line between berth and death

It was literally a tragic twist of fate for Bhimaiah Shahabadkar, a former member of Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat. He could have survived had his berth in the sleeper class was confirmed.

But, destiny had a different design for him. Since his berth was not confirmed, Shahabadkar travelled by the ill-fated air conditioned coach, only to perish in the fire.

Shahabadkar (55), a resident of Kurkunta in Sedam taluk,  along with his daughter and others were returning from Bangalore after attending a marriage. He is survived by wife, two sons and three daughters. The body of Bhimaiah is said to have been identified by his daughter Saroja. They were to arrive in Sedam on Saturday by noon.

Bhimaiah, his daughter and his other friends from Sedam had booked berths in the sleeper class. While the berths of all other travellers were confirmed, Bhimaiah was left alone and forced to travel by the AC three-tier coach which caught fire.

Long back, he was elected to Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat from Adki constituency in Sedam taluk. He is related to Lingsugur MLA Manappa Vajjal.