Bengaluru: Junior artiste found dead on shoot spot

BENGALURU: A junior artiste was found dead under mysterious circumstances at the shooting spot of Kannada remake of Tamil superhit film VIP , n Monday evening. The incident took place at an under construction site at Avalahalli near Singanayakanahalli in Rajanukunte police limits on the outskirts of the city.

The deceased, Padmavathi, aged around 40 and a resident of Yelahanka, fell from the 18th floor of the building. The film crew was reportedly shooting the entry scene of the lead character, played by senior actor-director V. Ravichandran's son Manoranjan, when the incident happened. There were over a hundred junior artistes at the spot.

It is alleged that the film crew had taken only an oral permission from the building in-charge and was shooting since Monday morning. After the day's shoot, the lead artistes and the director, Nanda Kishore, left the sets, while junior artistes stayed back to receive remuneration.

Padmavathi's friends found her missing and started searching for her frantically. Around 6.30 pm, her body was found in the lift shaft. "It is not known whether she accidentally fell. We are probing all angles and trying to arrive at the reason for the death. We will book those concerned if their negligence is found during the probe."

The Rajanukunte police have registered a case. On November 7 last year, a similar tragedy had struck the crew of 'Maasthigudi' movie. During the shoot of the climax scene, actor Duniya Vijay, had jumped from a helicopter into the Thippagonanahalli reservoir along with two actors, Uday and Anil, who were playing villain. While Vijay was rescued, Uday and Anil had drowned.