Dancer filming Riteish Deshmukh's film drowns in Maharashtra river
What's the story
A tragic incident marred the shooting of Riteish Deshmukh's Marathi movie, Raja Shivaji, when a dancer drowned in the Krishna River in Maharashtra's Satara district. The dancer, identified as Saurabh Sharma (26), went missing on Tuesday evening after completing a song shoot. His body was recovered two days later on Thursday morning. The incident happened at Sangam Mahuli, a village at the confluence of the Krishna and Venna rivers, around 250km from Mumbai.
Incident details
Dancer was swept away by strong currents while swimming
Per police reports, Sharma was swept away by strong water currents after he went for a swim in the river after a shoot. "After finishing the shooting of a song in which colors were thrown around, Sharma went to wash his hands in the Krishna River. After washing his hands, he entered deep into the river for a swim, but got swept away by strong water currents," an official told Hindustan Times.
Rescue efforts
Search operation launched after dancer's disappearance
After Sharma went missing, the police and district administration were notified, launching a search operation by disaster response and rescue teams. Local private organizations also participated in the effort. However, the search was called off on Tuesday night owing to darkness and restarted on Wednesday morning. Despite the best efforts, the dancer remained missing until his body was finally fished out of the river on Thursday around 7:30am.
Investigation
Cops registered an accidental death case
The police have registered an accidental death case with the Satara Police, and a further investigation is currently underway. The film Raja Shivaji, directed by Deshmukh, who also plays the lead role, is a bilingual Marathi and Hindi film. It is based on the life of the legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Apart from that, Deshmukh will also be seen portraying a politician in Raid 2, set to release next Thursday.