BURDWAN: A government-sponsored theatre workshop was called off and its director removed after women participants accused him of sexual harassment.
A senior state official said the accused, filmmaker and theatre director Premangshu Roy, had been removed and a probe was on.
The matter came to light when some of the participants complained on social media sites about the director seeking sexual favours from them in return of lucrative acting offers.
Roy was connected with the state-run Minerva Natyasanskriti Charchakendra, which conducted the workshop.
The five-day workshop was to have continued till today but wound up yesterday.
Held at the Rabindra Bhawan here, it was attended by 21 people, seven of them women, from East and West Bardhaman and Birbhum districts.
Roy, who could not be contacted, had put up a post on Facebook yesterday, apologising to the theatre fraternity, and claiming that his jokes had been misread by the participants.
Theatre and film director Suman Mukhopadhyay described the incident as a "slide" in Bengali theatre.
"Has the rot started in Bengali theatre? The slide will continue. Feeling bad for the next generation when one hears such reports," he posted on Facebook.
He called for protests, saying, "Let there be protests. Should not give up, never should give up".