E-Paper
Court keeps Kaizad Gustad behind bars
The court ordered that Gustad will remain in jail for four more days to give police time to probe the death of Nadia Khan.
An Indian court ordered Thursday film director Kaizad Gustad to remain in jail for four more days to give police extra time to probe the death of his British assistant, Nadia Khan, struck by a train while shooting a movie.
Kaizad Gustad, one of Bollywood's rising young film directors, was arrested eight days ago by Bombay police on accusations of negligence causing the death of Khan, 27.
The film and media graduate from North London University was hit by the train May 25 at a Bombay railway station while filming Bombay Central, a movie about urban commuters.
"More time will be provided to the police as they need to acquire and study some key documents to the case," additional chief metropolitan magistrate P.T. Rawle told the court.
Police also said they wanted more time to question at least four people who they said could provide more information to help them lay formal charges. Under Indian law, police have up to 90 days to lay charges.
Gustad and his two assistants, Ashish Udeshi and Hadley D'Mello, were being held on allegations of "making a false complaint to the police, negligence causing death and not taking proper safety measures," police said last week.
The two assistants were also ordered to stay in custody for four more days. If police lay formal charges and they are convicted, the three could face prison terms ranging from seven to 10 years.
Khan had travelled to Bombay to get experience in filmmaking and was working as an assistant director on the set. Accidents are frequently reported on the sets of Bollywood films where safety standards are notoriously lax. Family members have said she was fulfilling a longtime dream of working in Bollywood, the world's biggest cinema industry, where some 900 films are made annually.
A court magistrate said last week the crew had no permission to shoot in the part of the station where Khan was killed. Authorities said they were initially told she had died as a result of a road rather than a train accident.
Gustad said as he was being taken into custody he described the incident as a road accident in a "split-second decision" as he tried to get medical help for Khan. Khan was speaking on her mobile phone when she was hit by a suburban train on a track reserved for express locomotives. She was declared dead on arrival at hospital.
Usha Purohit, a lawyer representing relatives of Nadia Khan, has said the family was completing paperwork for a civil suit in Britain seeking unspecified financial compensation from Gustad. Gustad last year made the movie, Boom, starring Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan that turned out to be a box-office flop.
