Mysuru: Noted music director Gangaraju, popularly known as Hamsalekha, will inaugurate the renowned Dasara festivities in Mysuru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Tuesday.

Celebrated as ''Nada Habba '' (state festival), Dasara festivities are a grand affair in the palace city of Mysuru every year, depicting Karnataka's rich culture and traditions, coupled with reminiscence of royal pomp and glory.

The 10-day event every year showcases Karnataka's cultural heritage resplendent with folk art forms, and attracts large crowds and tourists.

''Hamsalekha wlll inaugurate the Dasara festivities,'' Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

The Chief Minister had met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi earlier this month and requested him to direct the concerned officials to plan an 'airshow', as was done earlier, during the Dasara festivities in October.

Stating that the renowned Mysuru Dasara festivities showcase the grandeur of Karnataka in all its resplendence, Siddaramaiah had, in a letter submitted to Singh, said the entire country is privy to the glorious history and traditions of the state through these celebrations.

During the 2017 and 2019 Dasara festival, a special airshow exhibited by the Indian Air Force at the TorchLight Parade Ground in Mysuru had enthralled tens of thousands of tourists and Kannadigas, it was noted.

 

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.