Hyderabad (PTI): Veteran Telugu actor Krishna died on Tuesday at a city-based private super-specialty hospital where he was undergoing treatment following a cardiac arrest.

He was 80.

Krishna, father of superstar Mahesh Babu, was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of Monday and was put on ventilator.

He was being treated by a multi-disciplinary team of doctors following the cardiac arrest. The actor died at 4 AM on Tuesday, hospital sources said.

Over the last 24 hours, Krishna continued to remain in an extremely critical state, following his admission to the emergency ward due to a cardiac arrest and upon resuscitation he was shifted to ICU, the hospital said in a statement

"He remained critically ill with multi-organ failure and severe hypoxic brain injury It was decided late evening with family members and all the consultants not to pursue further supportive care given to his dismal prognosis and to keep him final moments painless and peaceful. He expired in early hours of the morning at 4.09 AM," the statement said.

Ghattamaneni Sivarama Krishna, popularly known as Krishna, began his career in the early 1960s and acted in about 350 films.

Krishna is known in the Telugu film industry for his good-nature and courageous attitude. He earned fame with his cowboy roles and by introducing advanced technologies in film-making.

Krishna was a Lok Sabha member from Eluru Parliamentary constituency, winning the elections in 1989. His son-in-law Jayadev Galla is presently a TDP Lok Sabha member representing the Guntur constituency.

Chief Ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, K Chandrasekhar Rao, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and MK Stalin respectively condoled his death.

Chandrasekhar Rao, in a statement recalled Krishna's five decades of contribution to the Telugu film industry as an actor, producer and director.

"Krishna, who acted in over 350 movies, left an indelible mark on the hearts of moviegoers and his death is a huge loss for the Telugu film industry," Rao said.

"Krishna garu is a Telugu superstar. He is Alluri...He is our James Bond. As a man of heart in real life as well, who earned distinction for himself in the film industry, his death is a great loss for Telugu film industry and Telugu people," Jagan Mohan Reddy tweeted.

Condoling, the death, Stalin said his demise is an irreparable loss to Indian cinema.

In a statement, he said Krishna was known for including many innovative aspects in cinema. He expressed his condolences to his son Mahesh Babu and the bereaved family.

Actor and former union minister Chiranjeevi in a statement posted in his Twitter page said he could not believe that Krishna is no more and offered condolences to his family members.

"Krishna garu is synonym for adventure. Apart from many experimental films and distinctive characters, your credit for introducing many techniques to Telugu cinema will always be remembered," Jr NTR tweeted.
Several film personalities have recalled their association with the departing soul.

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Kollam (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".

Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.

Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P N Vinod sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2.35 lakh on the convict.

Though the prosecution had sought death penalty for the accused during the arguments on sentence, the court was of the view that the case does not fall under the rarest-of-rare category to warrant the maximum punishment.

It was also of the view that there was a chance of the convict getting reformed as he told the court that the rest of his life would be one of repentance, the order on sentence said.

"At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect."

"In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of terms sentences," the judge said.

After the verdict, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal told reporters outside the court that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.

The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but that he cannot authoritatively say whether his late daughter has got justice. He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.

Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given. She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.

She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".

The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.

It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.

Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.

A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and another person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.

She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.

Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.

She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.

Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.

He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.