Tight security for Kannada actor Ambareesh's state funeral

Security has been tightened for the state funeral of Kannada super star M.H. Ambareesh on Monday at the Kanteerva Studio in the city's northwest suburb, a senior police official said.

"Elaborate security arrangements have been made for Ambareesh funeral with state honours at the Kanteerva Studio after his body is brought here in a procession from Kanteerva Stadium in the city centre," Bengaluru Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) P. Harishekaran told the media here.

Ambareesh, 66, died on Saturday night following a heart attack at a private hospital in the city.

"About 4,000 police personnel have been deployed at the Studio and along the 15km route from the Stadium through which the cortege will be brought in a procession," said Harishekaran.

Vehicular traffic has been diverted at a few junctions and restricted on main roads from the stadium for the smooth movement of the funeral procession to the studio.

"Though it is a public holiday for Kanakadasa Jayanthi, we have deployed additional personnel to regulate the peak hour traffic on the first day of the week as the route leads to National Highway 4 towards Mumbai," added Harishekaran.

In a related development, the glass casket with Ambareesh's body was airlifted to the city from Mandya in an IAF helicopter and taken to the Stadium from the airport in the city's eastern suburb under tight security for the last journey to the Studio.

The body was flown to Mandya, about 100km from Bengaluru, on Sunday evening and kept at Visvesvaraya Stadium in the town where over 2 lakh people from towns and villages in the old Mysuru region paid homage to Ambareesh all through the night.

"Over two lakh people, including women and children from towns and villages across Mandya and Mysuru districts came to the stadium and paid homage to Ambareesh," Chief Minister Kumarawsamy told reporters at Mandya earlier in the day.

Kumaraswamy also thanked the district administration for the arrangements at the stadium and the people for their patience in paying tributes to Ambareesh in a peaceful and orderly manner braving the cold night.

"Ambareesh body was brought to Mandya in response to the demand by the local people and thousands of his fans in the region as it was difficult for all of them to travel to Bengaluru for a last glimpse of his body," the Chief Minister said.

--IANS

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