At least eight people lost their lives in incidents related to New Year revelry in separate incidents in the State. Four from Tamil Nadu who were returning from Goa after New Year celebrations were killed on the spot and another injured when the car they were travelling in hit a public transport bus near Baleguli Cross in Ankola taluk of Uttar Kannada district on Sunday.
The deceased have been identified as Arun Pandyan, Nipul, Mohammed Billal and Shekharan. Another passenger in the car is severely injured and has been hospitalised. According to the police, the deceased returned from Goa after celebrations and were proceeding to Gokarna, when the mishap occurred. The car hit the road divider and then rammed into the bus coming from the opposite direction.
A youth who sustained a bullet injury following celebratory firing at a private party organised to welcome the New Year in Shivamogga, succumbed in a hospital on Sunday. The person who accidentally opened fire with his double barrel gun, also died of heart attack within a few minutes of the incident on the night of Saturday.
Manjunath Olekar, 67, had organised the party at his residence in Kote Police Station limits. Manjunath’s son and his friends had gathered for the party. As part of the celebrations, Manjunath had plans to open fire in the air. However, he accidentally fired at Vinay, 34, leaving him injured. According to the police, the incident happened accidentally while Manjunath was loading the gun.
Manjunath, who was in shock after the incident, died following a heart attack on Saturday night. Vinay, who had suffered injury, was admitted to a hospital in the city. He succumbed on Sunday afternoon. Kote police have registered a case.
In Bengaluru, a 38-year-old factory worker was killed after he slipped from the terrace of a four-storeyed building in Kamakshipalya on Saturday night. The deceased Srikanth Patra, a native of Odisha and working as a machine operator in a bag manufacturing unit, was living in a rented house in Kottigepalya.
On Saturday night, he along with his friends went to the terrace and partied to celebrate the New Year. After a few drinks, Patra tried to jump onto the adjacent building for fun when he lost balance and crashed to the ground. His friends rushed the profusely bleeding Patra to a nearby hospital, where he was declared as brought dead.
The Kamakshipalya police have registered a case of unnatural death and are investigating to ascertain if there was any foul play in the incident.
In another incident, a 28-year-old man was allegedly killed by his friends in an inebriated state over a trivial row during celebrations in Chintamani in the wee hours of Sunday.
The deceased Naveen Reddy had gone to party with his friends in a dhaba. They got drunk and started to argue over a trivial row. In the melee, one of the friends smashed a beer bottle on Naveen’s head, following which he started bleeding severely. Sensing trouble, they escaped, leaving Naveen in a pool of blood. The staff of the dhaba rushed Naveen to a nearby hospital before alerting the police, while the doctors declared Naveen as brought dead. The Chintamani rural police have registered a case of murder and efforts are on to arrest his friends who are on the run.
