Pa Ranjith, 3 others booked for negligence, culpable homicide in connection with death of stuntman SM Raju on film set

Stuntman SM Raju's death on the film sets of a Pa Ranjith film left many shocked. The director and 3 others have now been booked by the police.

Director Pa Ranjith and three others have been booked by the Keelaiyur police in connection with the death of stuntman SM Raju on a film set. A report by The Hindu says that the director and three others have been booked for negligent conduct, abetment of an offence and culpable homicide. (Also Read: Chilling video reveals how stuntman SM Raju died on set of Pa Ranjith, Arya film, angry fans question safety norms)

Pa Ranjith and three others have been booked in connection to stuntman SM Raju's death.

Pa Ranjith booked for stuntman SM Raju’s death

Raju died while performing a stunt on Ranjith’s set during the shooting of a film with Arya in the Nagapattinam district. The shoot was organised by Neelam Productions, and the incident took place on Sunday. A case was initially registered against Ranjith, stunt choreographer Rajkamal, Neelam Productions and Prabhakaran under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.

Raju was rushed to the Nagapattinam Government Medical College Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body has been handed over to the family after a postmortem. Based on evidence, the police have now revised the case against the film’s team, booking them under Sections 289 (Negligent conduct), 125 (Abetment of an offence), and 106(1) (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the BNS Act.

Prithviraj Sukumaran, Vishal mourn Raju’s death

On Monday, Prithviraj Sukumaran took to his Instagram stories to mourn Raju’s death. He wrote, “Rest in peace Raju! So many moments of magic that would have been impossible to film without your skill and guts. You will be missed forever.”

Vishal also mourned the stuntman’s death, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “So difficult to digest the fact that stunt artist Raju passed away while doing a car toppling sequence for Jammy (@arya_offl) and @beemji Ranjith's film this morning. I have known Raju for so many years, and he has performed so many risky stunts in my films time and again. He was such a brave person. My deepest condolences and may his soul rest in peace,” promising to help his family.

Stunt choreographer Silva mourned his loss on Instagram, writing, “One of our great car jumping stunt artist, S M Raju, died today while doing car stunts. Our stunt union and Indian film industry will be missing him.”