National level basketball player from Vizag dies in a road accident

A vacation turned fatal for a national-level basketball player from Vizag as he died in a tragic road accident on Friday.

According to Kasimkota SI, Suresh Kumar, the victim has been identified as J Tarun Kumar (36), a local of Kurmannapalem in Vizag. Tarun had led the state basketball team during the Under-21 Championship, held in Punjab in 2005. Since 2008, he has been a part of the senior basketball team of Andhra Pradesh. Being a national-level sportsman, he had managed to secure a job at Waltair Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR), under sports quota. His wife is also a professional basketball player and is currently working as a coach at a corporate school near Vizag Steel Plant.

The railway employee had recently visited his wife’s hometown, Guntur, to celebrate Sankranti. However, tragedy struck when he was on his way back to Vizag. Reportedly, the accident occurred during the early hours of 15 January, when Tarun’s car had hit a bus shelter at Nutanaguntalapalem near the National Highway in Visakhapatnam district. The victim, who suffered severe injuries, was rushed to Anakapalli Government Hospital. Unfortunately, the national level basketball player from Vizag passed away while receiving treatment. The cops suspect that the deceased might have been driving the vehicle in a drowsy state, which could have caused the accident.

Earlier in 2020, another resident of Kurmannapalem was killed in a road accident. The incident took place in Srinagar SRT when a couple travelling on their bike fell down as a private bus hit them. While the man sustained injuries, his wife passed away on the spot.