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: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.

Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent. 

Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.

In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.

He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”

Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok. 

The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.

A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.