Daijiworld Media Network - Sullia (SP)

Sullia, Dec 15: Narayana Rai (66), owner of Avinash Motors, who was popularly known as the man who heralded rural transport revolution in the region, ended his life, which came to light on Tuesday December 14. He is survived by wife and two sons.

Rai committed suicide when he was alone in his house at Aramboor. In a death note left behind, he cited the reason for this shocking decision as ill health.

As his wife and children were away to attend a marriage at Bengaluru, Rai was alone in his house. A young relative was staying with him on this occasion. At about 11.45 pm on December 13, he sent a WhatsApp message to his sister Nalini, who looks after the transport business, in which he said he had decided to leave behind all his close ones. As it was late in the night, she checked the message only the next morning and called the youth who was with Rai over the phone. However, he did not receive the call. She then contacted some relatives and asked them to immediately visit her brother. The relatives went there and with the help of the youth staying there, checked the room of Rai and found that he had ended his life.

Rai, after secondary school education, had started his own business and then worked as a driver in KSRTC. Later, he opted for voluntary retirement and began to operate buses to routes. He owned 18 buses, a few of which also were run to Mangaluru and Bengaluru. However, in the recent past, he had confined himself to running rural bus services alone. He had issued free bus passes to many students. A few months back he had suffered a paralysis stroke.

In the death note, Rai mentioned he was finding it hard to live because of health problems. He said he did not want to create problems for the close ones and therefore had decided to leave the world, it is said. He also mentioned that the buses should not stop operations because of his death, but they can be run with black flags.