’Fan’s drowning not suicide out of grief’

Police say Vishnuvardhan fan jumped in well after drunken brawl

'Fan's drowning not suicide out of grief'

Police say Vishnuvardhan fan jumped in well after drunken brawl

Somanna (25), a die-hard fan of Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the well in on Wednesday, after he came to know about the actor's death.

A relative of the deceased also drowned in an attempt to save him. The incident took place in a town called T Narsipura in Mysore district. However, while this is the version given by the deceased's family, as police say their investigations have revealed a different story.

Superintendent of Police, Mysore district, Ramsubba told MiD-DAY that their investigations found that after a booze party, Somanna had allegedly argued with his cousin Mahadevswamy over the payment of Rs 200 for alcohol.

Monetary dispute
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Mahadevaswamy allegedly humiliated Somanna who jumped into the well in an inebriated state. Soon his relative, Kunnaiah (32), who was with Somanna, jumped into the well to save him, but he too drowned.

Family after fame?

When his family members rushed to the spot, the villagers told them to "give colour" to the incident.
They did this anticipating monitory compensation for the family, as well as some "fame" for Somanna's hometown Kuppe village when media highlighted the death.

The family claimed that Somanna was upset soon after he came to know about the demise of Vishnuvardhan.
He wanted to go to Mysore to pay his last respect and told his cousin and friends, "If Vishnu is not alive, why should I be?"

However police maintained that the whole thing was concocted.

"We have taken up a case of unnatural death and taken the statement from the family members of the deceased.

We have also recorded the statement of Mahadevaswamy who had a fight with Somanna a few minutes before the incident," Ramsubba said.