Forum Files Complaint Over Actor's On-Set Drowning

Kolkata, India – The death of Bengali actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee, 43, during a television shoot has prompted the West Bengal Motion Picture Artists Forum to file a police complaint against the production company, alleging negligence and possible criminal conspiracy.

On March 29, Banerjee drowned while filming a dance sequence for the serial Bholey Baba Par Karega at Talsari beach near Digha in Odisha. According to eyewitness accounts, Banerjee and a co-actor were in knee-deep water when they slipped into an underwater ditch. The co-actor was rescued, but Banerjee was pulled from the water and rushed to a hospital in Digha, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The forum lodged the complaint on April 4 at Regent Park Police Station in Kolkata, registering it as a Zero FIR against Magic Moments Motion Pictures Pvt Ltd and directors Saibal Banerjee and Leena Gangopadhyay. The filing accuses the production team of conducting the shoot in a negligent manner that endangered lives, potentially without required permits, and providing unsatisfactory explanations about the incident. Priyanka Sarkar, Banerjee's wife and fellow actor, accompanied forum members to the station, marking...