Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who died on Friday after being hospitalized for over a month, has been to rest with state honours at his farmhouse in Chennai. He got a 24-gun salute by Tamil Nadu police.
After the singer’s son S P Charan performed the funeral rites amid Vedic chants by priests, 24 police personnel gave a gun salute and later the body was lowered into a deep pit and buried. With policemen marching along, the body was brought on a bier to the designated burial spot from an enclosure earmarked for people to pay homage and perform rituals.
SPB suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest at MGM Healthcare hospital on Friday. His son SP Charan told media that he died at 1.04 PM. Security arrangements have also been made outside the farmhouse in Thamaraipakkam village of Thiruvallur district.
“Today, on account of the funeral of SP Balasubrahmanyam, we have made elaborate security arrangements. We have deployed around 500 personnel and a separate traffic police team is also there to take care of traffic issues,” Aravindan, superintendent of Police Thiruvallur told ANI.
SPB’s body was kept at his farmhouse for the general public to pay their respects. The funeral began at 11am. Hundreds of people gathered to bid a teary farewell to the musical genius, who is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
{{/usCountry}}SPB’s body was kept at his farmhouse for the general public to pay their respects. The funeral began at 11am. Hundreds of people gathered to bid a teary farewell to the musical genius, who is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
{{/usCountry}}Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday said that the singer will be laid to rest with full police honours. On August 5, he was admitted to MGM Healthcare Hospital after he tested positive for the coronavirus. For over a month, he was undergoing treatment and was on life support throughout.
After showing signs of recovery over the last few weeks, SPB’s condition deteriorated on Thursday. Two weeks ago, Charan confirmed that his father has tested negative for the coronavirus.
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“We were expecting dad’s lungs to improve, as they were, to a certain point where we could remove the ventilator. Unfortunately, we are still not at that. But the good news is dad is COVID negative,” Charan had said.
“We are expecting the lungs to heal fast. Over the weekend, we did have a small celebration for mom and dad for their anniversary. Dad is watching a lot of cricket and tennis on his Ipad. He’s happy that the seasons have started. He’s looking forward to IPL. He’s writing and communicating a lot,” he had added.
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