Bhubaneswar: Police in Odisha's Talsari have registered a case against five members of a Tollywood production house, holding them prima facie responsible for actor Rahul Banerjee's death during a TV serial shoot last Sunday. Charges include negligence and misrepresentation of facts related to the incident.
Balasore SP Pratyush Diwakar said, "We have registered a case against five key functionaries of Magic Moments Motion Picture Pvt Ltd — directors Subhasish Mondal, Saibal Banerjee and Leena Gangopadhyay, floor executive producer Shantanu Nandi; and production manager Chandra Sekhar Chakraborty alias Sekhar Chakraborty — on charges of negligence leading to the actor's death and fabricating a false narrative. The investigation is ongoing, and the suspects, along with other crew members, will be questioned."
The case was registered following a complaint lodged late Saturday night by Rahul's wife, Priyanka Sarkar, at Talsari Marine PS. Earlier, an unnatural death case had been filed at Digha Mohana Coastal PS on March 29.
Priyanka alleged that the production house had neither obtained official permission from Odisha govt authorities to conduct the shoot nor implemented safety protocols for filming in the sea. She stated that locals had warned the crew to halt shooting, citing the beach's notoriety for quicksand and unpredictable tides, but the warnings were ignored.
She further accused the production house of concealing the true sequence of events and misleading the police. According to her, contradictory audio-video statements from crew members raised suspicion, while accounts from local witnesses aired on news channels pointed to negligence and lack of safety measures.
"It establishes that the production house committed gross negligence, deliberately avoided accountability, and misrepresented the facts to build a false narrative and escape legal consequences," Priyanka alleged in her FIR.
Subhasish, among those booked, had recently said shooting had ended when Rahul insisted on an unscripted drone shot. Filming in knee-deep water with Sweta Mishra, he went deeper for a second take despite warnings. A strong wave made him slip. Crew and lifeguards attempted rescue, but he was declared dead at hospital.