Rajkumar's body shifted to Palace Grounds

Bangalore, Apr 12 (UNI) The mortal remains of Kannada thespian Rajkumar, who died this afternoon after suffering a massive cardiac arrest, was shifted to Palace Grounds here to enable his millions of grieving fans to pay their last respects to their idol.

As the police had a tough time in regulating the milling crowd at the actor's Sadashivnagar residence, the body was shifted to the sprawling Palace Grounds.

Dr Ramana Rao, the personal physician of Rajkumar for the last 28 years, told newspersons near the actor's residence that he was hale and hearty in the morning, but complained of respiratory problem around 1330 hrs. As soon as Rajkumar's family members summoned him, he rushed to their house and found the doyen of Karnataka filmdom in a critical condition. Rajkumar was given first aid, including cardiac massage, and arrangements were made to shift him to M S Ramaiah Hospital. On the way to hospital, mouth-to-mouth respiration was also tried in vain. Rajkumar breathed his last at about 1405 hrs, he said.

Dr Rao said Rajkumar treated him as his own son and expressed deep grief over the demise.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda was the first dignitary to pay homage to Rajkumar, followed by Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, his Cabinet colleagues, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly N Dharam Singh and various personalities of the Kannada film industry.

The last rites were expected to be held tomorrow evening at 'Puneeth Estate' at Bidadi town on Bangalore-Mysore road.

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