Kolar: The death toll in the collision between a motorbike and a car, which occurred on the new Chennai-Bengaluru Corridor Highway near Kuppanahalli in Bangarpet taluk on Sunday night, has risen to five.

The car owner, Santhosh’s three-year-old daughter Udvitha, his 60-year-old mother Rathnamma, his 55-year-old father-in-law Mahesh, and the biker, identified as Shrinath from Doddur village in Bangarpet taluk, had died in the accident earlier.

Santhosh’s wife, Sushmitha, who had been grievously injured, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bengaluru but succumbed to her injuries. It is also learned that Sushmitha was pregnant, and the foetus died on the spot due to the impact of the collision.

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Karwar (Karnataka) (PTI): Not willing to make any direct statement on whether there will be a chief minister change in the state, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar on Friday said that he and CM Siddaramaiah have come to an agreement with the involvement of the Congress high command, and both of them will abide by it.

Stating that Siddaramaiah is CM as per the high command's decision, he clarified that he has never made any comments on the former's tenure.

Siddaramaiah, earlier in the day, had affirmed that he would remain in office for his full five-year term, expressing confidence in the Congress high command's support.

During a discussion in the Assembly on the issues pertaining to North Karnataka's development, Siddaramaiah also said he never mentioned that he was the chief minister for only two-and-a-half years.

"I had never said, he (Siddaramaiah) will not be there (as CM) for five years. I have never said that the high command is not with him. As the high command is with him, he is chief minister today," Shivakumar told reporters here.

Noting that Siddaramaiah is in the post of CM as per the decision of the party, he said, "Both of us have come to an agreement, the high command has got us to an understanding, as per that both of us have discussed and have said several times that we will abide by it and go ahead."

Shivakumar, however, chose not to answer a question, whether there will be a change in the chief minister post or not.

To a question on talks about CM change, he said, "It is you (media) who is talking about it, there is no discussion among us. We will abide by what the party says."

The Deputy CM was on a visit to various temples in the Uttara Kannada district on Friday.

To a question linking his visit to the goddess Jagadeeshwari temple in Uttara Kannada district's Ankola, to his chief ministerial ambitions, Shivakumar said, "I don't want to talk about it, it is between me and the mother goddess. It is between the devotee and the deity. What I have prayed to the goddess and what she told me is between us."

He said, five years ago he had come to the temple regarding some issue concerning his family and his wish was fulfilled. "So I'm visiting the temple as a mark of gratitude and to seek blessings for me, the state and the people who believe in me. I'm going back happily."