Rahul Arunoday Banerjee death: Wife Priyanka Sarkar files FIR in Odisha, police to investigate criminal conspiracy

Odisha police has registered an FIR over the death of Bengali actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee after receiving a complaint from his wife.

Updated on: Apr 5, 2026, 19:19:31 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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Actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee's wife has filed a complaint with Odisha Police after the death of the actor last week. Officials from the Talasari Marine police station said that after a complaint from Priyanka Sarkar, an FIR was registered on Friday night.

Rahul Arunoday Banerjee was a known face and name in the Bengali entertainment industry. (Rahul Arunoday Banerjee on Instagram)

FIR filed in Odisha in Rahul Arunoday Banerjee's death

Rahul Arunoday Banerjee allegedly drowned during a shoot of a Bengali television serial at Talsari beach in Balasore district. The 43-year-old was shooting for a TV show at the beach on March 29, when he accidentally slipped into seawater. He was declared dead by a doctor at a Digha hospital, where he was taken by his associates, the police said.

On Saturday night, his wife, Priyanka Sarkar, filed a complaint urging the investigation of his death. Police officials told PTI that they will investigate from all angles, including any criminal conspiracy to the incident and evidence will be collected before coming to a definite conclusion.

On Saturday, the West Bengal Motion Picture Artists' Forum on Saturday had lodged a complaint at the Regent Park police station in Kolkata against the producers in connection with the incident. Kolkata Police said the complaint was treated as a 'Zero FIR' against the serial's producers, accusing them of conducting the shoot in a "negligent manner" that endangered human lives.

Zero FIR in Kolkata against producers

"On March 29, during the shooting of television serial 'Bholey Baba Par Karega' at Talsari near Digha, our colleague and forum member, actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee, tragically passed away due to an accidental drowning," the forum said in a statement on Friday night. "In this regard, the forum, on behalf of its members, sought legal advice to ascertain the exact circumstances surrounding the incident. Accordingly, a formal letter was sent to the production house.... on April 1 seeking clarification," West Bengal Motion Pictures Artists' Forum's statement said.

Rahul Banerjee started his career in the early 2000s, acted in several critically acclaimed Bengali films and TV soaps. He rose to fame with the 2008 Bengali film Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, directed by Raj Chakraborty and starring him opposite Priyanka Sarkar.

He then went on to feature in films like Jackpot, Love Circus, Shono Mon Boli Tomay and more. He was also a part of several television shows such as Geeta LLB, Horogouri Pice Hotel, Desher Maati and Tumi Ashbe Bole, among others. Later, he also started hosting a podcast, which gained popularity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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