Wasn’t on joyride, but going to hospital: Sharmiela

Sharmila Mandre

Kannada actress Sharmiela Mandre has denied the accusation that she met with a road accident while travelling in a car with friends during a joyride on Saturday, police said.

Mandre, 33, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital, was injured after the car, a Jaguar, crashed into the railway underbridge pillar in Vasanthnagar, central Bengaluru, around 3 am on April 4. Initial reports said Mandre and a friend named Vasanth Lokesh, 35, were travelling in the car during a joyride in violation of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The jurisdictional High Grounds police visited the hospital where Mandre has been admitted. Mandre told them that she had a stomach pain late on Saturday night and called her friends, Don and Thomas, to take her to the hospital. Don was driving the car, which met with the accident. Mandre told the police that she suffered injuries on the neck in the accident and was taken to the hospital.

Police now are searching for the CCTV footage to cross-check Mandre’s claims. They also interrogated her friends and the car owner.