Well-known Kannada crime reporter Ravi Belagere passes away

The famous columnist suffered a heart attack on Thursday night and was rushed to a private hospital but pronounced dead. He is survived by his two wives and four children. He was born in Ballari and is a MA graduate.

He had been an instant hit with his column -- Paapigala Lokadalli (Sinners' World) -- that first appeared in Karamaveera, a Kannada weekly magazine, run by Lok Shikshana Trust, which also runs famous Kannada daily news paper "Samyukta Karnataka" and monthly Magazine Kasturi.

After quitting Karmaveera, he founded his own tabloid "Hai Bengaluru" in 1996 where he continued to write his column Paapigala Lokadalli, which successfully ran for nearly four years.

The column primarily focussed on the rise and fall of rowdies and underworld elements of Karnataka. From here on, he attained a celebrity status among his contemporaries.

His other columns like Love Lavike, Bottom Item and Khaas Baat apart from Papigala Lokadalli which was about the underworld, created many admirers and his paper was the largest circulated Tabloid  over the five years.

After this success, he started a magazine "O Manase" which focused on the difficulties and troubles of young people and it too was an instant success. Later, he produced several TV programs and acted in some movies.

Belagere also tried his hands at the television. His crime investigation show titled 'Crime Diary' became popular within a short span of time. Belagere's unique style of narration in the show gained him huge popularity both in terms of money and fame.

Besides this, he also took part in the last season of 'Bigg Boss' reality TV show, for which he refused to accept any remuneration.

Along with Hai Bengaluru, he also founded 'Bhavana Audio', 'Bhavana Publication', and 'Prarthana School'.