BALASORE: Balasore police on Sunday launched an investigation after wife of deceased Bengali actor Rahul Banerjee (43) filed a complaint demanding a thorough probe into her husband’s death.
Rahul’s wife, actor Priyanka Sarkar, lodged the complaint with Udaipur-Talasari police at around 2 am against the production house Magic Moments Motion Picture Pvt Ltd. Several members of the Bengali film and television industry including actors Saurabh Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta and Prosenjit Chatterjee reportedly accompanied Priyanka.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under sections 106(1), 240 and 3(5) of the BNS against director and floor executive producer Shantanu Nandi, producer Chandra Sekhar Chakraborty and several members of the production house.
DIG (Eastern Range) Pinak Mishra said the complainant stated that the production house had neither obtained the necessary permissions from local authorities in Odisha nor implemented adequate safety protocols during the shoot of the television series ‘Bhole Baba Par Karega’ at Talsari beach on March 29. Locals present at the site had reportedly warned the crew to stop filming, citing the area’s known risks, including quicksand and unpredictable high tides.
Despite these warnings, members of the production team reportedly continued the shoot. During filming, Rahul and his co-actor Shweta Mishra reportedly slipped into the sea. While Shweta was rescued by locals and crew members, Rahul drowned. He was immediately taken for medical assistance but was declared brought dead.
“Since in reflection of the aforenoted incidents, it establishes that the production house has committed gross negligence on their part and have deliberately avoided all accountability for the incident and have deliberately misrepresented the actual facts of the case, building a false narrative to escape from the clutches of legal recourse,” Priyanka stated in her complaint.
Additional SP of Balasore Dibyajyoti Das confirmed that a case has been registered on basis of the complaint and investigation is currently underway.