Udupi: Adamaru Mutt donates Rs 55,55,555 to PM CARES Fund

A 40-year-old expatriate from Karnataka’s Mangaluru had a lucky escape to survive even as a huge fire engulfed an apartment complex in Kuwait, killing over 49 people. 

Praison Roby Peter, who was working as an administrator in a private company for the last seven years, was asleep when the fire started.

“He was on the fourth floor. Fire started from the ground floor when they were asleep at 4 am. Suddenly, the smoke spread to the upper floors. To escape from smoke he jumped from the fourth floor and hence was injured,” said Joy Mathew from the Kuwait Pentecostal Mission Church.

Mathew is working closely with Indians who were injured in the Kuwait tragedy.

Kannadiga among victims

One person from Aland Taluk from Kalaburagi is one among the 45 Indians who lost their life in the Kuwait fire tragedy. 

The deceased has been identified as Vijay Kumar Prasanna (43) and his body is expected to reach Kalaburagi tomorrow. “We are coordinating with the Kochi Airport authorities. Once all the bodies arrive in Kochi, the body of the deceased will be transported to Hyderabad via flight on Friday night. From Hyderabad, the body will be moved to his native village in Aland using a district ambulance. We are hoping that the body will reach the family by early morning on Saturday,” a senior official from the Kalaburagi district administration said.

According to sources in Kalaburagi district administration, Prasanna was working as a driver in a private company in Kuwait for the last ten years. He is survived by his wife and three children, sources revealed. Prasanna is one of the deceased in the Kuwait apartment blaze that killed close to 45 Indians on Wednesday. 

Bengaluru: Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who has been arrested in the Renukaswamy murder case, has confessed to have given Rs 30 lakh to another accused Pradosh for the disposal of the body and to ensure that "his name does not come out anywhere," police have claimed.

The amount has been recovered from Pradosh's residence, police sources said.

"Darshan, who is accused number 2 (A2) in the case, has in his voluntary statement to police said that he had given Rs 30 lakh to Pradosh (A14) to dispose of the body, and for the expenditure that would cost...for persons to carry out this task, and to ensure that his name doesn't come out anywhere," a police official said.

A total 17 people, including Darshan and his “friend” Pavithra Gowda, are accused in the murder case.

According to police sources, Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Gowda, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a storm-water drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June 9.

"From the spot of the crime, things such as lathi and wooden logs used for the alleged assault have been recovered along with water bottle, blood stains and material evidence, and DVR containing the CCTV footage," the official said, adding, "blood stains were also found on the vehicle allegedly used for disposing of the body." 

According to the autopsy report, Renukaswamy's death was caused due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries he sustained. "Viscera samples have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for further analysis," he said.

According to sources, one of the accused, Raghavendra, who is part of Darshan’s fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar here, on the pretext that Darshan wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and killed.

The investigation team is believed to have gathered enough evidence, including CCTV footage, which could establish that Darshan was present during the alleged assault on Renukaswamy, leading to his death, sources said.

Mangaluru: Eight to nine dacoits committed dacoity on a PWD contractor's house in Ulaibettu on city's outskirts and fled with cash, gold jewellery on Friday evening.

The PWD contractor Padnabham Kotiyan in his complaint to Mangaluru rural police informed that he and his family were residing in the farm in Ullayabettu when the gang of dacoits barged into their house at around 7.45 pm.

Eight to nine dacoits wearing masks on their face threatened the family at knife point and tied up the members of family with bedsheets.

The dacoits searched the entire house for cash and gold before fleeing from the place with the PWD contractor's vehicle. The police who rushed to the spot found the vehicle abandoned at some distance from the house.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal said PWD contractor Padmanabham had suffered a knife injury in the hand.

A case was registered at Mangaluru rural police station. Teams had been formed to ascertain the identity of dacoits and arrest them at the earliest, Mangaluru Commissioner of Police said.