Body of second Kannada actor found in lake

Bengaluru: The body of Kannada actor Anil was found early Thursday in the lake in which he drowned along with actor Uday after jumping from a helicopter during the filming of a Kannada movie earlier this week, said police.

"The NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force) team found Anil's bloated body floating in the backwaters of the TG Halli lake in the wee hours when it resumed search today," Magadi police station Circle Inspector H.L. Nandeesha told IANS.

The search team recovered Uday's body on Wednesday evening after it surfaced in the middle of the lake.

The Thippagondanahalli (TG Halli) lake is about 40 km northwest of Bengaluru at the confluence of the Arkavathy and Kumudavathi rivers in Ramanagara district. It is one of the sources of drinking water supply to Bengaluru.

The stunt act was the climax of the upcoming film "Maastigudi" where the hero Vijay chases the two villains trying to escape in a chopper from the lake shore. The hero too hops onto the chopper, which flies over the lake's backwaters.

As seen from the film footage, aired on news channels, in the fight between the hero and the duo, the hero pushes both the villains from the slow-cruising chopper and joins them in the reservoir to carry on the fight.

After the trio jumped from an altitude of about 60 feet while the shoot was on, they struggled to stay afloat. Vijay was rescued by local fishermen in a coracle, while Anil and Uday drowned as they did not know swimming and were not wearing life-jackets.

District police filed a criminal case under various sections of the IPC against the film unit, including producer, director and assistant director for negligence, failure to take precautionary measures like providing life-jackets.

"Anil's body will be handed over to his family members after autopsy at the state-run Victoria hospital in the city for the last rites later in the evening," said Nandeesha.

In a related development, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and Industry banned the film unit's director Nagashekhar, stunt director Ravi Verma and Vijay from doing any new film till the inquiry into the mishap is completed.

"The trio will not take up any new film project till the police investigation into the case and our inquiry is completed. The film ('Maastigudi'), for which the climax scene ended in tragedy, will also not be released till further notice," Chamber President Sa Ra Govinda told reporters here.