Prosenjit

Siliguri, May 14: Three children watching Prosenjit Chatterjee lip sync on a tractor in a north Bengal village were injured when another vehicle involved in the shoot ploughed into a crowd of onlookers.

Police had to rescue Prosenjit from the spot near Milan More, about 10km from here, after the crowd went on the rampage.

The children, aged between four and five, were treated for minor injuries at a nursing home where they were taken by the crew, which was forced to pack up for the day.

The production manager of the unit said one of the extras lost control of the vehicle. “It made straight for the by- standers. Fortunately, it was moving slowly. Our cameraman, Rana Dasgupta, was also injured,” said Santosh Routh.

Local people confined the unit members for around an hour demanding compensation. “They should be more careful while shooting here,” said Gopi Chetri, a resident.

Arun Mondal, one of the doctors who attended to Komal Mangar, Rita Mangar and Sujata Burman, said they were released after first aid. “All of them had suffered bruises.”

Prosenjit plays a milkman in the unnamed Swapan Saha film. He was driving the first of three tractors. The others were being driven by extras.

“The incident was unfortunate and we have lost a valuable day of shooting. I don’t know when we will be able to resume work as I heard that our camera was damaged,” said Prosenjit, whose heroine in this film is Anu Chowdhury from Orissa.

For Komal, the opportunity to see a shoot was more exciting than seeing Tollywood’s leading man. “I heard that a hero had come. But I couldn’t see much because it was so crowded,” said the five-year-old, a bit awed by the flurry of activity that followed her fall.

“I liked the car ride to the hospital,” said Komal.

After the police intervened, two cars, one with Prosenjit and the other with the three girls and their parents, left the site. The actor went to his hotel and the others to hospital.