Ambareesh death: Emotionally charged fans crowd hospital

BENGALURU: The hospital where actor Ambareesh was admitted with complaints of breathlessness witnessed emotional scenes late on Saturday evening as thousands of fans, filled with disbelief that their favourite ‘rebel star’ was no more, rushed there to mourn him death. The crowd kept increasing late into the night.

Even as he was rushed to hospital, fans had already started gathering near the hospital. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, actors Puneeth Rajkumar and many others from the Kannada film industry gathered at the hospital to pay their respects. 

In the meantime, the crowds had swelled to thousands and police were deployed in large numbers to control the crowd. Ambareesh’s fans started chanting that they wanted to take their ‘Mandyada Gandu’ back to his hometown. A group of fans, who came in a vehicle, started protesting that they would not return without his body. 

Disconsolate fans took over the footpaths and broke barricades trying to enter the hospital. Some even tried to end their lives right outside the hospital. Some fans pelted stones at the hospital and police had to  resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the crowd. Late in the night, the body was shifted to JP Nagar residence.