The director and four crew members named in an FIR for the death of a Kannada junior artiste are reportedly absconding as per a report in the Times of India.
A 44-year-old Sandalwood junior artiste, Padmamma Muniyappa, was found dead near a construction site on Monday night under mysterious circumstances.
The Rajnakunte police registered an FIR on the same day. Padmamma was found dead in a lift shaft at the basement of the building, which is located near Avalahalli in Rajanakunte, the report states.
The incident occurred while the shoot for VIP, a Kannada film directed by Nandakishore starring Manoranjan, was on at the construction site since Sunday morning, the report adds.
The FIR names the director and four other crew members, the owner of Prestige group which is involved in the construction as well as the building contractor.
Sections 143, 304A and 149 of the IPC have been invoked in the FIR.
The FIR does not name the producer of the film as in October 2016, police had filed a case against the producer and other crew members for the Maasti Gudi mishap, when two actors, Anil and Uday, died after jumping off a helicopter into the TG Halli reservoir.
Police said that the FIR names only those members against whom Padmamma’s mother had filed a complaint, the report adds.
Rajanakunte police told ToI that Padmamma fell into the lift shaft from an upper floor and they were figuring out how she fell.
Padmamma, her mother and aunt were among 120 junior artistes who were part of the shoot. The shoot was conducted on the first and fifth floors of the construction site.
A crew member told Lakshmamma, the victim’s mother, that her daughter had fallen from the fifth floor and injured herself. When she rushed to the spot, she found Padmamma dead, the report states.
Police said that only the family members were present when they arrived at the scene of the crime and that the film crew had fled, the TOI reported.