Popular cartoonist and food blogger from Mangaluru - Nikhil Pai - passed away on Sunday after he allegedly took his own life. The 28-year-old's body was found in his house at Malemar in the city. He is survived by his wife, mother and sister. 

The reason for the alleged suicide was not clear although sources close to the food blogger claimed that it is due to personal reasons. His body was taken to AJ Hospital while police officials at Kavoor Police Station have registered a case.

Nikhil shot to fame as the co-founder of Three Hungry Men, a popular food blog. He ran the blog along with his friends Colin Vernon D'Souza and Rajat Rao and reviewed various restaurants while also conducting food-related events. It was one of the first food-reviewing blogs to emerge out of Mangaluru. The trio reviewed restaurants in places like Mangaluru, Hubballi, Manipal, Pune among other places. 

Explaining their method, Nikhil said, "People don’t want to go there and try something wrong which is expensive because then you will be unsatisfied. Out of a menu with fifty items, not all fifty items would be good. What we do is, we help to choose the right dish. We try out about 15 to 20 dishes from the menu and filter it out. We highlight what we like and write our review," in an interview with The Manipal Journal. 

In particular, the group was popular among youth in Mangaluru for hosting food eating competitions like the 'Ice Cream Premier League', chicken eating competition and so on. He had also appeared in national television programmes on food and travel and popularised the coastal cuisine in Mangaluru through the shows.