Kannada actor Yash, who visited the village in Karnataka’s Gadag district where three men were electrocuted on Sunday night while erecting a hoarding to celebrate his birthday, has said that he is now scared of celebrating his birthday.
Hanumanth Harijan, 24; Murali Naduvinamani, 20; and Naveen Gaaji, 20, were electrocuted and three others were injured in the incident at Suranagi in Laxmeshwar taluk.
Speaking to the media after meeting the victims’ families, Yash said on Monday, “I request my fans to stop erecting banners. If you want to show some affection towards me, make something out of your life. On my way here, I saw people chasing my car on their bikes. Stop doing that. Every time such incidents occur, I get really scared. I have started to feel an aversion towards my own birthday. It is not about monetary support that one can extend, but we cannot bring back the dead. I do now want anyone to risk your lives and bless me from wherever you are.”
The KGF star said in an X (formerly Twitter) post on January 4 that he would not be able to meet his fans on January 8, his birthday.
“I decided to not celebrate my birthday with fans because I read reports about rising COVID cases. I didn’t want people to gather and fall sick,” he said.
What happened in Gadag?
Superintendent of Police Babasaheb Nemagouda said the tragedy struck when the hoarding’s metal frame came in contact with a wire of the Hubli Electricity Supply Company. A case has been registered at the Lakshmeshwar police station, he added.
Nagaraj Poojar, a 35-year-old villager, narrated the incident to indianexpress.com. “Murali was a huge fan of Yash even before the release of KGF. He had a tattoo of Yash on his body. They have been celebrating the birthday of Yash for five or six years. Every year, they used to distribute sweets to villagers and erect small banners in the village,” he said.
“This year, they wanted to celebrate in a massive way. They had ordered 25 banners and this was the only 25-ft banner… Their plan was to erect it on the main road of the village, cut a cake that had Yash’s photo exactly at 12 am on Monday and distribute it. They had planned it properly but this tragedy has shocked the village,” he added.
Poojar said he was at home when the incident took place. “We shifted them to hospital but Murali, Hanumanth and Naveen had died on the spot. They were daily-wage labourers and the backbones of their families,” he added.
The state government announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the three men and Rs 50,000 to the injured people on Monday.