Mysore :
The last rites of city’s music critic and Star of Mysore & Mysooru Mithra columnist S.R. Krishna Murthy (70), who died in the Bangalore-Nanded train fire mishap in the early hours of Saturday last, were conducted at the cemetery at the foot of Chamundi Hill in city last night amidst rituals.
Krishna Murthy was among the 26 passengers who perished in the fire mishap that occurred near Kothacheruvu in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday (Dec. 28) morning.
The mortal remains of S.R. Krishna Murthy, popularly known as SRK, was brought from the mortuary of Victoria Hospital, Bangalore, to Mysore at about 6 pm yesterday and kept at his residence in Bogadi for some time to enable family members, relatives and friends to pay their last respects.
Krishna Murthy, who had occupied seat No. 9 in the B 1 (AC) bogie that caught fire, was initially suspected to be missing, before he was declared dead on Monday.
Though, a body among the unidentified corpses kept at the mortuary of Bangalore’s Victoria Hospital matched his features, the authorities decided to go for a DNA test, when S.R. Krishna Murthy’s elder son S.K. Vinay, a Wing Commander with the Indian Air Force, Bangalore, gave his blood samples for the test.
However, the family finally succeeded in convincing the authorities with the photographic evidence of the gold chain with a heart-shaped pendant he was wearing, to hand over the body to them.
The gold chain was gifted to S.R. Krishna Murthy by his children when he turned 60, it is learnt.
Krishna Murthy leaves behind his 90-year-old mother Annapoornamma, wife Amrita, sons Wg. Comm. S.K. Vinay and S.K. Sanjay (of Bhasange Balaga), daughter Anupama and a host of relatives and friends.
Krishna Murthy, a Civil Engineer by profession, was a native of Saragur in Chamarajanagar District. He had served in different places before retiring from Karnataka Power Corporation (KPC) at Karwar, as Assistant Executive Engineer, Civil. It was only after his retirement that he settled in Mysore and began his tryst with music.
Many musicians, artistes, dancers and theatrists from city including Pt. Indudhar Nirodi, Dr. Vasundhara Doraswamy, Dr. H.R. Leelavathi, Madhuri Tatachari, Rama Bennur, R.N. Srilatha, Raja Anantakumar, Virabhadra Hiremath, Sarog Mukherjee, Krupa Phadke, Shivashankar, Somashekar, Srikanta Gundappa, members of Bhasange Balaga and others were among those who paid their last respects.
Union Railway Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, expressing shock over the train fire mishap, announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the family members of each victim.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / December 31st, 2013