Two persons were killed and three injured after the car in which Chikkamagaluru MLA C T Ravi was travelling, hit two vehicles parked on road side, near Urkehalli bridge on National Highway-75 in the early hours of Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Sunil Gowda and Shashikumar, both 25 and residents of Suranahalli village in Kanakapura taluk.
Thirteen persons from Suranahalli had been on a tour to Sringeri and Hornad in two vehicles and were returning to their village. They had parked their vehicles near Urkehalli gate for exchanging their luggage when the MLA’s car, which came from Hassan side crashed into them. Ravi’s car fell into a road-side ditch. Since the air bag opened, the MLA did not suffer much injury. The car was being driven by a person named Akash and body guard Raju Naik was also with the MLA.
While Sunil Gowda died on the spot, the body of Shashikumar was found 30 feet away from the accident spot with legs severed, police said.
The friends of the deceased demanded that the MLA should come to the spot and even staged a dharna in front of the Kunigal police station. Social media was abuzz with messages targetting C T Ravi, stating that he should have behaved “humanely.”
The deceased Sunil Gowda and Shashikumar were close friends. Gowda is survived by parents and two sisters. The family is dependent on agriculture for livelihood. Shashikumar’s father Jayaram is a retired KSRTC employee. He was working with a private company in Bengaluru. Both the deceased had their lands adjacent to each their. The last rites were held in the evening.