Kannada reality show host booked for organising a wedding in violation of lockdown

A Kannada reality show host has been booked for organising a wedding ceremony in violation of lockdown rules. Akul Balaji, who owns the resort at Doddaballapur, has been booked under the National Disaster Management Act. Situated near Lakhumenahalli, the resort named Sunshine by Jade was being decked to be the venue for a grand wedding. The locals saw the preparations being made and alerted the police who immediately booked Balaji for allowing this to take place at his resort without taking permission and flouting the lockdown rules. 

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The FIR copy that Republic has accessed states that over 20 people had travelled from Bengaluru together to organise the event, putting the villagers at risk as Bengaluru has been declared a red zone due to a high number of Coronavirus cases. While Balaji has been named accused 1, an employee of the resort, Srinivasa Maniyam has also been named in the FIR. It also states that on April 18, several people had gathered inside and outside the resort without permission. An investigation is on to determine how they travelled out of Bengaluru when the lockdown is in place and travel outside of Bengaluru is prohibited without a pass from the police. 

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The novel coronavirus crisis

Akul Balaji has hosted several Kannada shows like Hosa Luv Story, Mane Munde Mahalakshmi, Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu. He has also acted in several Kannada and Telugu films both as an actor and a dancer.  Last week, the wedding ceremony of former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy had been criticised for flouting lockdown rules during the stipulation basis which the permission was given for the wedding in a farmhouse in Ramanagara.  Karnataka has reported a total of 415 cases of Coronavirus cases with seven new positives on Tuesday. This also includes 17 deaths and 114 patients who have been discharged. Several parts of the state including state capital Bengaluru have been declared as red zones due to the presence of a high number of cases.

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