A 15-year-old boy died in Hubballi on Thursday, March 19, after a social media reel shoot involving two vehicles went tragically wrong.
The victim, Nameesh Sangalad, son of Karnataka BJP leader Veerabhadrappa Sangalad, was riding an Ola electric two-wheeler when it collided head-on with an Audi Q7 during an attempted stunt in which the vehicles approached each other at high speed and were meant to swerve away at the last moment.
Police said the reel was being filmed by a group of teenagers in the Shejawadkar Layout area near Unkal between 4.30 pm and 4.45 pm. The Audi Q7, a 2013 model originally registered in Noida, was allegedly driven by another minor.
Nameesh, a Class 9 student studying in Mysuru, had returned home to Hubballi on March 19 to celebrate Ugadi. He reportedly joined friends for the reel shoot on the city outskirts when the accident occurred. According to police, the impact caused severe head and leg injuries, and Nameesh died on the spot.
In his complaint, Veerabhadrappa Sangalad, a businessman and political leader from the Hubballi-Dharwad region, alleged that the Audi was being driven “in a negligent, zig-zag manner” for the purpose of filming the reel.
The Hubballi police have registered a case against the driver under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
According to police, the Audi was sold to a Hubballi-based buyer in 2022 after a no-objection certificate was issued by the Noida RTO.