Puneeth to be laid to rest next to Rajkumar and Parvathamma's grave in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Kannada film actor Puneeth Rajkumar's mortal remains will be put to rest beside the grave of his father, the legendary actor of Kannada cinema Dr Rajkumar in Bengaluru. The order was issued in this regard by senior IAS officer N. Manjunath Prasad, principle secretary to the chief minister on Friday.

Puneeth Rajkumar passed away on Friday after suffering cardiac arrest. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has directed to initiate necessary steps to conduct final rites of the actor in the premises of Sri Kanteerava studio near the grave of Dr Rajkumar in Bengaluru, the order stated.

Puneeth Rajkumar's mother Parvathamma is also laid to rest in the same premises. The decision has been taken as per the wishes of his family. Civic agency of Bengaluru and the Police department have been asked to make necessary arrangements.

The mortal remains of Puneeth Rajkumar are being kept for public view at Kanteerava Stadium till Saturday evening. Thousands of people across the state are pouring in to pay their last respects to their favourite star.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar, and former Union minister S M Krishna expressed their condolences on the untimely death of Puneeth.

Puneeth is survived by wife Ashwini Revanth and daughters Vanditha and Dhrithi.

Security has been beefed up all across the state including state capital Bengaluru to manage the situation. The Kannada film industry has come to a grinding halt and all movie shows have been cancelled in the state.

Puneeth was born on March 17, 1975 and was fondly known as 'Appu'. He was also a singer, television presenter and producer. He acted in more than 29 films and has also appeared in many films as a child artiste. He won the National Film Award for Best Child Artiste for his role in 'Bettada Hoovu'. He made his debut in the Kannada film industry with the movie 'Appu' in 2002.

He recently finished the shoot of Chetan Kumar's 'James'. His elder brother is another Kannada superstar Shiv Rajkumar.

Puneeth's next project was to be 'Dvitva'. Dvitva's shoot was to begin on November 1.

Paying tributes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the coming generations will remember Puneeth Rajkumar fondly for his works and wonderful personality.

Last rites on Saturday
Puneeth's last rites will be held on Saturday after the return of his elder daughter Vanditha from the US.

Karnataka Revenue Minister R. Ashok stated that the actor's last rites will be conducted with state honours.

His mortal remains were taken to his residence from the hospital. Later, his body will be kept at Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru after 6:30pm for final viewing till late Saturday evening.

Raghavendra Rajkumar, elder brother of Puneeth, said that his younger sibling took him to hospital when he had suffered heart attack twice earlier. "He got the pacemaker for me. He brought me back from the hospital safely. But I could not bring him back. He went to see my parents," he said.

Raghavendra Rajkumar stated that nothing has been decided yet on the last rites.

"Puneeth's spouse is inconsolable and not in a position to talk. We will decide after discussion with all relatives. We have requested to make arrangements for public 'darshan'. We all know what happened at the time of the death of our father (Kannada film legend Rajkumar) (Seven people were shot dead in the large-scale violence that followed after his death) That should not happen," he stated.