BENGALURU: Three men in their early twenties died of electrocution in Karnataka’s Gadag past Sunday midnight when a metal frame of a massive banner of actor Yash that they were trying to erect for his birthday came in contact with a power line, police said.

Police said the three men, identified as Hanumanth Harijan (24), Murali Naduvinamani (20), and Naveen Gaaji (20), were the actor’s fans. The accident took place at 1am on Monday.

Yash, who is known for his role in KGF, was away shooting for his next movie, Toxic, when the incident took place. He arrived at Hubballi airport on Monday evening and drove over 50km to Suranagi village, in Laxmeshwar taluk to meet the families of the three men and condole their death. On January 4, Yash earlier informed his fans that he would not be able to meet them on his birthday this year because he was busy shooting.

Gadag superintendent of police (SP) Babasaheb Nemagouda said the group of locals were putting up the iron frame for the banner when the accident took place. “Three of them were electrocuted to death and three were injured while putting up the banner,” he said.

“The banner had a metal frame that was in contact with a HESCOM (Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited) cable. A case has been registered,” he added.

Shirhatti MLA Chandru Lamani appealed to people to avoid setting up metal-frame banners.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh for the families of the three men. “Saddened to hear the news of the death of three youths due to electrocution while building the birthday flex of actor Yash in Surangi village of Lakshmeshwar taluk of Gadag district,” he said.

Leader of the opposition R Ashok said the government should restrict the use of such cut-outs. “What happened in Gadak is sad. Film actors should tell their fans not to install such cut-outs that could lead to such tragedies and the government should also prohibit such cut-outs,” he said.