'He was the hero of the family'

His life reflected his name - Raj. He was the hero of the family... humble and polite, recollect the inconsolable family of 53-year-old T S D Raj, a resident of RMV Extension in Bengaluru, who was killed in the train accident near Penukonda on Monday morning.

A native of Chikkanayaka-nahalli in Tumakuru, Raj was unmarried. A general manager at Indofil Industries Limited, an agricultural chemicals firm, he was travelling in the AC first class coach of the Bangalore City-Nanded Express from Bengaluru to Raichur on a official trip when the accident occurred.

“He was a father figure to his two sisters. He had lost his parents over a decade ago and two of his four sisters in the last few years. The tragedies had not numbed his spirit and positive attitude. He took over the responsibility of his family and got one of his sisters, Maheshwari, married to Shanthakumar, a coffee grower in Somwarpet. He used to take care of Jayashree, the other sister, an employee at the University of Agricultural Sciences, like his own child. But now, we all miss him,” said Daya Rani, his aunt.

“We received the news of his death at 7.30 am. Police officers at the Hebbal station called us to the police station to confirm Raj’s identity. We received Raj’s body around noon at our residence. We could not believe our eyes. The handsome man who used to always smile was lying dead before us. The back of his skull was badly injured because of which he had died on the spot,” said Siddalingappa, his uncle.

Raj was working with Infodil for the past 25 years. He had started his career as a salesman and with seven promotions, he had become the general manager. He was due for promotion as managing director next month. He used to go on many foreign trips officially.