Deputy Collector dies in road mishap

Chittoor: Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanthi (GNSS), Kadapa Special Grade Deputy Collector Gopinath (53) died on the spot in a road accident in Chittoor district on Sunday. His body was shifted to Government Ruia Hospital in Tirupati. Chittoor District Revenue Officer Sesha Reddy said that after a busy work schedule on Saturday, Gopinath was returning to house located at NGO Colony in Tirupati. He started on Sunday morning and was at the wheels of a government-provided Scorpio vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a tree on the roadside near Mamandur on Kadapa-Tirupati highway at 11 am. He died on the spot. On receipt of news, Renigunta CI Ramana Kumar, Tirupati RDO Y Ramachandra Reddy and members of Revenue Officials' Association visited the spot and shifted the body to Tirupati. Gopinath left behind wife, a son who is studying B Tech final year, and a daughter who is a B Tech first year student. His final rites would be performed in Tirupati on Monday. Gopinath hailed from Anantapur district. He joined the government service as a probationary deputy tahsildar in Kadapa district in 1984. He belonged to 1983-84 batch and was selected for Zone-IV. Later, he became a Deputy Collector in Chittoor district in 2002. He became Special Grade Deputy Collector in 2006 and worked for six years in Chittoor district. He worked as Special Grade Deputy Collector in SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and for one year in the land acquisition department. He also worked as personal assistant to Superintending Engineer of GNSS Project for more than three years and was later designated as Special Deputy Collector for GNSS. He was due to retire in 2018.