Overview
- Rahul Arunoday Banerjee drowned during a TV shoot at Talsari beach on March 29 after entering the sea and being swept by the tide; technicians pulled him out but he was declared dead at a Digha hospital.
- The post‑mortem found he died of suffocation caused by drowning, with large amounts of salt water and sand in his lungs and oesophagus.
- His wife filed an FIR registering the death as unnatural and the Odisha police set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the circumstances and statements from the crew.
- On Monday the West Bengal chief minister instructed district police to forward the case so the state CID can take charge, a move framed as answering the family and artists’ demands for an independent inquiry.
- The industry has protested over alleged safety lapses and missing permissions, a leading producer resigned from a government post, and the state has pledged to increase the number and pay of coastal lifeguards to improve beach safety.