Vijayanagara: A teenager died and another was critically injured as the crane that lifted the Ganesha idol collapsed during the immersion ritual near the Tungabhadra reservoir in Hospet on Saturday.
Ashok, 18, resident of TB Dam colony, was the victim of the accident. Sai Nikhil, 17, resident of the same colony, was the injured youth.
Members of the EV Camp Mahaganapati Mandali organized the immersion of a 34-foot tall Ganesha idol and the procession for the ritual was led to the power canal at 1:30 am on Saturday. When the idol was being immersed into the water body, the crane that lifted the gigantic idol, unable to bear the load, collapsed and fell into the canal.
Both the teenagers were caught between the falling crane and the bund wall of the canal. Ashok died on the spot due to the impact of the collapsing equipment, while Sai Nikhil was grievously injured and has been admitted to hospital.
The crane that had fallen into the canal was later lifted using two other cranes.
A case has been registered at the TB Dam colony police station against crane operator Raju and EV Camp Mahaganapati Mandali head Nookaraja for failing to implement safety measures during the event.
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Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
