Accident during Ganesha procession: Among the dead, three are BE students at Mosale Hosahalli

Three students of the Government Engineering College at Mosale Hosahalli in Hassan taluk are among the nine people who died in the accident at the village on Friday (September 12, 2025) night.

Mithun G.V., Suresh M.R. and Praveen Kumar K., all in the final year of BE joined the Ganesha procession on the NH 373, soon after having dinner at the government hostel at the village.

Mithun, a native of Gavi Rangapura in Hosadurga of Chitraudrga district, had turned 21 on the day. He and his friends celebrated the occasion by cutting a cake before joining the procession. Unfortunately, his birthday also became his last day. He is survived by his parents and two sisters. His father works as an accountant at a temple.

“All three are bright, meritorious students, who had ambitions to achieve big in their lives. The college staff have not yet come to terms with the death of our beloved students”, said Prof. T. Rangaswamy, principal of the college. The college, set up in 2019, has strength over 1,050, the highest among government engineering colleges in the state.

“We have students from different parts of the State. A majority of them stay in hostels. While girls stay put in the hostel on the campus, boys are admitted to government hostels in Mosale Hosahalli and Hassan. These boys joined the procession being carried out close to their hostel”, said the principal.

Praveen Kumar K., who was in the computer science stream, was from a poor family in Ballari. His father died long ago, and his mother, who worked at a clinic, was the breadwinner. “I still remember the day when he was admitted to the college. His mother accompanied him. She had high hopes for her son. The mother was hardly left with money to return home. We, the staff, helped him and took care of him as our family member”, said Mr. Rangaswamy. Praveen is survived by his mother and a sister.

M.R. Suresh, also a student of computer science, was from an agricultural family at native of Manenahalli in Chikkamagaluru. “Because of his interest in studies and skills in organising events, he was known as Mr. Perfect in our department. We had a seminar in our department on Friday, and all of them were with me until the evening,” recalled Prof. Raghu M.E., Head of the Department of Computer Science. Suresh is survived by his parents and two brothers.

Kabaddi match

“They all would have completed their course in a couple of months and secured excellent placements, given their talent and performance in exams. Unfortunately, their journey has been cut short,” said Mr. Rangaswamy, the principal, who declared a holiday for the college on Saturday (September 13, 2025).

Besides these three, Deekshit B.H., Sudeep M., Shabbir of Koppal, Ashwith from Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru, Sandeep, Darshan, Adarsh A.P., Akash D.M., Vinay B.C from Kunigal, Vishnu B.S. and Ruthvik — all students of the college, suffered injuries. Two workers of the college — Darshan of Bittagowdanahalli in Hassan taluk and Yashwanth of Shantigrama – also suffered injuries. Three among them require surgeries as they suffered bone fractures in the incident.

“A few more students from the hostel had delayed joining the procession as they were watching a kabaddi match of the Pro-Kabaddi League in which Bengaluru Bulls were playing on the day. They had plans to join the procession after the match was over”, said Mr. Raghu.