Workers allege camera attendant died on TV show's set, police registers FIR

A camera attendant on the sets of popular TV show ‘Anupamaa’ died following electrocution earlier this week, the All India Cine Workers Association has alleged. Police have registered an FIR against the contractor for negligence.

Headlined by Rupali Ganguly, ‘Anupamaa’ is produced by Rajan Shahi and Deepa Shahi under the banner of Director's Kut Productions. It airs daily on TV channel Star Plus and streams digitally on Disney+ Hotstar.

According to Suresh Gupta, president of All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA), a camera attendant named Vineet Kumar Mandal lost his life as there were “no safety measures” on the set there.

“Vineet Kumar Mandal was a camera attendant, who was on duty on the sets of the show ‘Anupamaa’, died due to electrocution on November 14 at 9.30 pm. There are no safety measures in place for our workers. It's sad that such instances happen with workers. They didn't want this news to come out fearing an FIR against the producers,” Gupta said, claiming the show's production continued on November 14 despite Mandal's death.

The Aarey police had registered an FIR against the electrical contractor for negligence, a police official said. If a worker died on set, the producers had to pay a compensation to the tune of Rs 1 crore, added Gupta.

Established in 2016, AICWA is a trade union body consisting of daily wage earners, actors, stunt persons and choreographers, among others. It has over 1 lakh members across India.