Bangalore, April 12
Kannadigas took to the streets here stoning and burning buses and cars even as the city slipped into a state of mass hysteria following the death of Kannada film industry icon Rajkumar who died of cardiac arrest at his residence in the city this afternoon.

The news of the veteran thespian’s death spread like wildfire in the city. Emotional fans took out processions with his portraits on two- wheelers and autorickshaws. This brought traffic to a standstill in many parts of the city.

Later in the evening when the mortal remains of Rajkumar were being taken to the Palace grounds from the actor’s residence in nearby Sadashiv Nagar to allow people to pay tribute to him, fans ran berserk stoning buses and trucks. They also set a few buses and cars on fire on the Sankey road, besides destroying public property even as the cavalcade moved to the Palace grounds with their idol’s body. There were incidents of stone pelting in the inner city also while tyres were set on fire on the Hennur road.

Earlier, the police, in a bid to control the situation at the actor’s house, even resorted to a mild lathi charge to control the crowd arriving at his residence. Restrictions were placed on the movement of buses towards the residence of the veteran actor.