'Maastigudi' director, producer, four others charged over actors' drowning

[email protected] (CD Network)
April 28, 2017

Bengaluru, Apr 28: Nearly six months after two stunt actors drowned in the Thippagondanahalli reservoir during the shooting of Kannada film ‘Maastigudi,’ police have formally charged the producer, director, stunt director and three others.

mastigudiThe jurisdictional Taver¬e¬k¬e¬re police filed a 400-page charge sheet before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Magadi, about 50 kilometres west of Bengaluru, earlier this week. The film is scheduled for release on Friday. Criminal negligence was found on the part of the film’s producer Sundar P Gowdru, director Nagshekar, stunt director Ravi Verma, assistant director Siddarth, unit manager Bharath and the pilot of the helicopter Prakash Biradar. The charge sheet has fixed culpability on each accused according to the roles and responsibilities assigned to them.

The charge sheet lists 78 witnesses, including several BWSSB officials who stated that the film’s crew violated the conditional permission given for the shoot, local residents who came to watch the shoot and rescue workers who fished out the bodies after a 48-hour search. The charge sheet states that the deceased actors — Anil Kumar (37) and Raghavendra Uday (31) — were bare-chested and didn’t wear any life jackets, while the lead actor, Duniya Vijay, had worn one, which saved him from drowning. Shortly before the shoot, the deceased actors had given interviews to news channels and expressed fears about their lack of expertise in swimming.

Kumar and Uday — known for portraying negative roles on-screen — had jumped off the helicopter along with Vijay from a height of about 60 feet on November 7, 2016. Moments later, the two actors began to drown in the 40-foot-deep lake but Vijay managed to swim to safety. A?motorboat kept on standby to deal with any emergency could not start because of a technical snag and failed to rescue the actors.

Vijay has been made a witness. The complainant in the case is the Assistant Executive Engineer of the TG Halli reservoir. The accused were booked under IPC 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) which attracts imprisonment up to 10 years. The accused were arrested but released on bail later. The investigating officer is Anil Kumar, police inspector from the district crime branch.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: Days after being diagnosed with COVID-19, 'Oblivion' actor Olga Kurylenko said that she is better as her fever has now gone.

The 40-year-old actor took to Instagram to share the health update with a picture of herself wearing a face mask.

"Hello everyone! I'm feeling better today. My fever is gone! I hear people can't figure out where I currently am. I'm in London!," she wrote in the caption.

The 'Quantum of Solace' actor also shared details about coronavirus with her Instafam.

"How do I know it's coronavirus and not just a flu? I did a test for coronavirus which came back positive. What are the medicines that doctors prescribed as treatment? NONE!" she wrote.

"I was told to take paracetamol in case my fever was too high and if I was in too much pain. However, I do take vitamins and supplements. Please note that these vitamins do NOT cure coronavirus but only help the immune system be stronger in order to fight!" Kurylenko added.

She also shared a detailed list of medicines that she is taking to deal with the condition.

The 'Oblivion' actor joined the growing list of entertainment figures who have contracted the highly contagious virus on Monday.

Other Hollywood personalities who were earlier diagnosed with COVID-19 are superstar couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The celebrity couple has been discharged from the hospital and are under quarantine at their home.

Other celebrities that are currently battling with the coronavirus are music producer Andrew Watt, 'Game of Thrones' actor Kristofer Hivju, and actor Idris Elba.

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News Network
July 14,2020

Los Angeles, Jul 14: US officials on Monday found the body of "Glee" actress Naya Rivera in the Californian lake where she drowned last week during a boat trip with her four-year-old son.

Rivera's body was retrieved and an initial examination found no evidence of foul play or suicide, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub told a press conference.

"We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," said Ayub, pointing to the location, appearance, clothing and condition of the body.

Her body was being taken to a medical examiner's office for a full autopsy and confirmation of her identity from dental records, though no other missing persons have been reported at Lake Piru, he added.

Rivera, 33, is believed to have accidentally drowned after renting the boat with her young son at the camping and recreational hotspot around an hour's drive northwest of Los Angeles.

She vanished on Wednesday afternoon, and a massive search involving divers, patrol boats and helicopters was launched after her sleeping son was spotted drifting alone in a boat on the lake.

The son later told investigators that Rivera had helped him into the boat before "he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water," said the sheriff.

Ayub pointed to the lake's strong currents as a possible cause of a fatal accident.

"The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting -- it was unanchored -- and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself," he said.

The lake has been closed to the public since Wednesday, with around 100 personnel, including the US Coast Guard and rescuers from neighboring counties, joining the search.

Search teams used footage from video messaging calls Rivera made from the boat before her disappearance, as well as interviews with her son, to scour portions of the lake bed for her remains over six days, with no success.

"We believe she was concealed within some of the shrubbery on the floor bed of the lake" before eventually floating to the surface due to natural decomposition, said Ayyub.

With less than one foot (30 centimeters) of visibility underwater in daylight, the recovery operation was a "complex search effort" even with use of sonar equipment, he said.

Rivera was best known for her role as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in "Glee."

She starred for six seasons in the wildly popular musical television series set in a US high school that ended in 2015.

The "Glee" cast has been struck by tragedy before.

Actor Mark Salling took his own life in 2018, weeks before being sentenced for possession of child pornography.

Canadian castmate Cory Monteith died in July 2013 of an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

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News Network
July 23,2020

Mumbai, Jul 22: Actor Sara Ali Khan on Wednesday treated her fans to an extremely adorable family picture from a Holi celebration during her childhood days.

"Mother, Daughter- Iggy Potter. Riot of colours with Water Slaughter. Mommy so young I almost forgot her. Gulaal we threw, off-guard we caught her. But it was healthy fun with no totter. After all she's mother dearest- the OG Fautor," the 'Simmba' star poetically captioned the adorable Holi throwback picture on Instagram.

In the picture, Sara was seen coloured in Gulaal along with her mother Amrita Singh and brother Ibrahim Ali Khan. Sara looked loveable in the childhood picture as she wore an endearing smile with her neatly tied hair in a ponytail. Mom Amrita was seen smiling along with the kids, while she held little Ibrahim as he smiled and posed for the camera.

The post on the photo-sharing platform garnered more than 6 lakh likes within an hour of being posted.

Meanwhile, on the film front, Sara Ali Khan is awaiting the release of her latest comedy-drama 'Coolie No.1' with Varun Dhawan.

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