Actor's death: cops book director, building contractor

The Rajanakunte police have booked film director Nanda Kishore, cameraman Hegde, labour coordinator Shekhar, owner of Prestige Group and the building contractor on the charge of criminal negligence leading to the death of junior artiste Padmavathi.

The family members of Padmavathi have told the police that the film crew fled the spot even after learning about her death. The crew members neither informed the police nor made any arrangements to shift the body to  hospital, police sources said,  quoting family members. Since Padmavathi belongs to reserved category, a complaint of atrocity too has been registered.

“Why did not the film crew inform us about the incident? We came to know about it only from the media,” said a senior police officer.

Meanwhile, film crew members claimed that it was not right on the part of Padmavathi to stray away from the unit. “Some junior artistes while away in the day and turn up at the unit in the evening for getting wages. Padmavathi could have been one among such artistes. She might also have gone to answer call of nature,” said a crew member who did not want to be named.

There are also discrepancies in the statements of the film crew, said a senior police officer. “During our enquiry, we found the film was shot on 18th floor also. But, they (film crew) told us they were shooting only on the first floor. Some junior artistes claim that they were asked to be on the fifth floor, and we are investigating the matter,” the officer added.