The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : They fell to police bullets

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 15, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

They fell to police bullets

K.V. Subramanya

`He was to get married in June, but death snatched him from us'

BANGALORE: "Baduku jataka bandi, vidhi adara saheba, kudhure neenu peldanthe payanigarau naavau. Madhuvego, masanako... " (Life is a cart steered by destiny. We passengers go where the horse takes us, be it for a marriage or a funeral...)

These lines from D.V. Gundappa's "Manku Thimmana Kagga" aptly explains the fate of Janardhan, 25, who was killed in the police firing during the violence that broke out near Sri Kanteerava Studios before the funeral of the Kannada thespian Rajkumar on Thursday.

Janardhan, whose marriage was to take place in June, fell to police bullets while trying to get a view of the body of the veteran actor.

"My daughter got married recently. Subsequently, we fixed our son's marriage a few days ago. Before he could tie the knot, death snatched him from us," said a sobbing Lingashetty, father of Janardhan.

Hailing from Bylahalli in Hassan district, Janardhan worked in a garment factory here. He was the sole breadwinner of his family. He was a school dropout and resided at Mahalakshmipuram here.

Narrating the sequence of events that led to Janardhan's death, his friend Rudresh said both of them were standing on the third floor of a building near the studios. A bullet hit Janardhan in the ribs and he fell, landing on the first floor of the building. He was killed instantaneously, said Rudresh.

Amjad Kattimani, 25, who was also killed in the firing near the studios, was to have become a father soon. His pregnant wife is still in a state of shock. Kattimani was from Gadag district. After his marriage a year ago, he came to Bangalore and settled at Jalahalli. He was a screen printer.

Muniraju, 43, who was shot near Siddalingaiah Circle, was the father of two. He was a mason and lived on the outskirts of Bangalore, near Kengeri. His wife, Radha, said Muniraju left home early in the day saying he would return after work.

"My only son has been killed. The lamp of my house has been blown out," was what Suresh Shetty had to say after his 26-year-old son, Yeshwanth Shetty, was killed in the firing. Yeshwanth, who worked in a garment factory, had left home after telling his parents that he was going to a friend's house.

Another victim of the police firing, Gopal, 27, of Laggere, was running a bicycle repair shop in Krishnandanagar. "We advised him not to go out, fearing violence. He was killed for no fault of his," said his visually impaired father, Venkataramaiah, and mother, Rathnamma.

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