Karnataka: Six drown in Cauvery River near Arkeswara Temple

Expressing his grief over the tragedy, the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took to Twitter and stated, "It is heartbreaking to learn that six people drowned in the Cauvery River while going for a swim near the Arkeswara Temple in K.R. Nagar, Mysuru...A compensation of 5 lakh rupees each will be provided to the families of the deceased..."

Meanwhile, in a separate incident in the state, miscreants allegedly vandalised Mahatma Gandhi's statue overnight at Mahatma Gandhi Road in Haveri city.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Haveri SP Yashoda Vantagodi and the city police visited the spot and conducted an inspection. Later, the police took the 2-foot-tall defaced statue to the city police station.

A case has been registered under the jurisdiction of Haveri city police station. The police are inspecting the city's CCTV as the one in Gandhi Circle was reportedly shut down.

Earlier on April 17, seven people were killed, and two kids were injured after a car collided with a bus in the Yadgiri area of Karnataka, police said.

All the passengers travelling in the car belonged to a single family and hailed from Sirwar Taluk of Raichur. Adgiri SP Pruthvik Shankar explained that the accident occurred in Yadgiri District, within the Surpur Police Station limits.

"There was a tragic accident in the morning between 9:30 and 9:45. So, one VRL bus travelling from Bangalore towards Gulbarga collided head-on with a car travelling from Surpur towards Sirwar," he said."

Out of nine passengers travelling in that car, seven are confirmed dead, two kids are critical, and they were moved to Yadgar Institute of Medical Sciences," he said.

According to an eyewitness, the car, while overtaking one tractor, met with a head-on collision with the bus. "We have taken the complaint from the victim's family side, and we are investigating the case," SP Shankar said. (ANI)