Kannada star actor Puneeth Rajkumar passed away on Friday (October 29) after he suffered a major heart attack. The actor was admitted to Vikram Hospital in Bengaluru in the morning and was in the ICU. Fans had gathered outside and wished for the actor's speedy recovery, however, he succumbed to cardiac arrest. A statement from the Vikram hospital read, "Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar aged 46 years was brought to the emergency department of Vikram Hospital with a history of chest pain at 11:40 am, he was non-responsive and was in Cardiac Asystole and Advanced cardiac resuscitation has been initiated."
Reportedly, high alert has been declared in Karnataka after the death of the power star. Police battalions have been deployed and the government has ordered to close theatres immediately.
Superstar Chiranjeevi was devastated by the news of Puneeth Rajkumar's death. He wrote, "Shocking ,devastating & heartbreaking! #PuneethRajkumar gone too soon. Rest in Peace! My deepest sympathies and tearful condolences to the family. A huge loss to the Kannada / Indian film fraternity as a whole.Strength to all to cope with this tragic loss!"
Cricketer Virender Sehwag took to Twitter and condoled the death of Puneeth Rajkumar. He tweeted, "Saddened to hear about the passing away of #PuneethRajkumar. Warm, and humble, his passing away is a great blow to Indian cinema. May his soul attain sadgati. Om Shanti." Other cricketers also expressed their shock and paid their condolences-
Other celebrities also expressed their shock on the sudden demise of Puneeth Rajkumar and paid their condolences-
Meanwhile, Puneeth Rajkumar has acted in over 29 Kannada films as the male lead and also hoted Kannadada Kotiyadhipathi. He also had emerged the first brand to make a mark on the streaming platforms too with two OTT releases during the lockdown last year.
