Director accused over death is bailed

A judge granted bail today to an Indian film director and two crew members charged in the death of a British assistant hit by a train during a movie shoot last month.

Judge Dilip Bhosale said in Bombay High Court there was no further need to hold Kaizad Gustad and the two crew members for interrogation.

The three will probably be released tomorrow after paying bail set at €595.90 each.

Gustad and his team were shooting the film Mumbai Central in downtown Bombay when a train hit his assistant, Nadia Khan, a 26-year-old graduate of North London University. Bombay, the country’s financial and entertainment capital, is also called Mumbai.

Police said Gustad, 36, ordered crew members to tell police and hospital authorities that Khan died in a road accident. The victim’s father and sister in London earlier said that Gustad initially told them that was the cause of death.

But a crew member later confessed to police that Khan was hit by a train.

Police are investigating why Khan was standing on a busy railway track where the crew did not have permission to shoot, instead of a less-used track for which they had clearance.

Gustad and his assistants face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of culpable homicide. They could also spend three years in jail for filing a false police complaint, suppressing information, fabricating evidence and negligence.

India’s movie industry, popularly called Bollywood, has often been criticised for poor safety standards and accidents are common on sets.