Telugu actor and former Rajya Sabha member Nandamuri Harikrishna was killed in a road accident near Telangana’s Nalgonda district on Wednesday early morning. He was 61.

He was the fourth son of N. T. Rama Rao, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and founder of the Telugu Desam Party.

Mr. Harikrishna suffered a severe head injury after he was thrown out of his speeding car, which rammed into a divider. He was declared “brought dead” by the doctors at the Kamineni Hospital, 15 kms away from accident site.

According to the police, the car with at least three occupants was going towards Andhra Pradesh, on the Narketpally-Addanki State highway.

At around 5.45 a.m., the car rammed into a divider near 12th Battalion Reserve Police, Anneparthy, toppling and then colliding with an oncoming SUV.

Two other occupants in the car sustained minor injuries. More details are awaited.

Born in 1956, Harikrishna entered films as child artiste in Krishnavataram in 1964. This was followed by guest roles in films like Ram Rahim and Daana Veera Sura Karna, the NTR starrer in the 1970s.

Harikrishna took a break from films and subsequently accompanied his father driving the Chaitanya Ratham in the nine-month campaign during the inception of the TDP. He returned to films in 1998 with guest role in Mohan Babu starrer Sriramulayya.

His movies like Sitayya in which he played full length role were received well by the audience.