Telugu actor Ravi Teja's brother killed in road accident

Tollywood star Ravi Teja's brother Bharath met with an accident on Saturday at around 10 pm and died on the spot. The accident occurred at Chennamma Hotel near Kotwalguda in Shamsabad and the victim was driving to Gachibowli.

Bharath, 45, who also acted in a few Telugu movies, was driving the car when it hit the stationary lorry on the outer ring road near Kothwalguda in Shamshabad late last night, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport's police station inspector M Mahesh said. 

Bharath, who died on the spot, was alone in the car when the mishap occurred, he said. "He was travelling towards Gachibowli from Shamshabad. He was alone in the car," the inspector said. A report in Times of India quoted RGI Airport inspector Mahesh. He said that a complaint will be filed against the truck driver who had apparently not taken proper precautions in parking his vehicle when it broke down. The victim’s car rammed into the back of the truck and the hood of the car was damaged. The impact of this head-on collision was the cause of death.

According to various other media reports, the police official identified the victim on Sunday due to facial disfiguration. Asked if police suspect it to be a case of drunken driving, Mahesh said, "The viscera of the deceased will be sent to a forensic science laboratory...Now the postmortem is underway." 

The lorry was parked near the roadside after it broke down prior to the accident, police said. A case will be registered against the lorry driver as he parked it without switching on precautionary indicators for other vehicles, the inspector said.

45-year-old Bharath Raju, the younger brother of Ravi Teja, is an actor in Tollywood himself. He has appeared in numerous Telugu films including Aa Mugguru and Jump Jilani.

• Bharath Raju
• Ravi Teja