Grieving Crowds Bid Goodbye To Puneeth Rajkumar

IMAGE: A fan holds a poster of Puneeth Rajkumar.
Photograph: PTI Photo

IMAGE: Ashwini Revanath, Puneeth's wife, grieves near his mortal remains.
Photograph: PTI Photo

IMAGE: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai pays his last respects.
Photograph: PTI Photo

IMAGE: Large crowds gather to say their goodbyes.
Photograph: PTI Photo

IMAGE: It was an emotional day as friends and fans came together to mourn an actor with an unique ability to always connect with his fans.
Photograph: PTI Photo

IMAGE: A fan pays tribute to the Kannada superstar.
'People would always hang around his house in Sadashivanagar, knowing that whenever their hero came out, he would definitely acknowledge them and probably even hug them or give them a gift,' writes M D Riti, who has known Puneet since he was 12..
Photograph: PTI Photo

IMAGE: Fans console each other outside the Vikram Hospital, where the actor breathed his last.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy at the Vikram Hospital.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Producer Rockline Venkatesh and actor Yash at the hospital.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant overlooks the security outside the hospital.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Fans shocked at the tragic news.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Fans and the media gather outside the hospital as an ambulance carrying the actor's mortal remains leaves.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

IMAGE: Police personnel control grieving fans.
Photograph: Shashidhar Byrappa/ANI Photo

IMAGE: Crowds began to collect outside the hospital as soon as news about Puneeth's death spread through Bengaluru.
Photograph: Shashidhar Byrappa/ANI Photo

IMAGE: Fans break down at the hospital.
Photograph: Shashidhar Byrappa/ANI Photo