K'taka govt decides to hold Puneeth's cremation on Sunday

Bengaluru, Oct 30: Owing to the swerving crowd, the Karnataka government announced on Saturday that the cremation of late Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar will be held on Sunday morning and the timings will be decided later. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the decision has been taken as large crowds were still waiting to pay their last respects to their favorite actor who died at the age of 46 on Friday due to a cardiac arrest.

"As per the wishes of people, the funeral will be held tomorrow (Sunday) allowing everyone to have final viewing. I appeal to fans to cooperate with the police. The police are here to help them. They are also Puneeth's fans," he explained. "Puneeth's daughter is reaching Bengaluru between 5.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. It will be difficult to hold final rites in the evening. Keeping this fact in mind, it has been decided to hold the funeral in the morning. The decision has been taken after discussion with his elder brothers Shiva Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar," Bommai said.

Further, a decision will be taken in the night to fix the timings of final rites, he added. The mortal remains will be taken in procession to Kanteerava Studio, located 11.7 km away where Puneeth will be cremated. Earlier, it was decided that as soon as Puneeth's elder daughter reaches New Delhi, the body will be taken out in procession to Kanteerava Studio.