'Why should anyone lie about someone's death?'

The family of Nadia Khan, who was killed while shooting for director Kaizad Gustad's Mumbai Central, will ask for a British coroner to be appointed to monitor the case in India.

Khan was knocked down by a suburban train on May 25 at the Mahalaxmi railway station in south-central Mumbai.

Gustad and his line producer Ashish Udeshi rushed her to the nearby Nair Hospital after reportedly telling the authorities that she was hit by a truck while crossing the road to buy some cigarettes.

The two men are in police custody until June 10.

Khan's family has also filed a complaint against Ayesha Shroff, actor-producer Jackie Shroff's wife and the film's financer, with the chief minister of Maharashtra and the Mumbai police commissioner.

On learning that Darshana Vaity, the woman police constable who accompanied Gustad's crew with the injured Khan, a British national, to Nair Hospital, was allegedly bribed Rs 200 to keep quiet and that the station master too failed to report the incident and then went missing, the family is determined to get to the bottom of the case.

They have also sought help from the British high commission in New Delhi.

Linda Perham, Member of Parliament for Ilford, has sent a letter to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil seeking their co-operation and help for the family.

Reacting to media reports about Gustad blaming Khan for the accident, Khan's sister Ruby Rizvi said, "Crew and cast members have explained exactly what happened that day. An actor has revealed that his scene was to cross the track [track 4, the track on which Khan was hit by the train], and walk towards the camera. She was positioned there. Why is Kaizad lying? [Gustad had reportedly told Khan's family that she had died in a road accident, and later said it might have been a train accident.] He only had permission for track 1. Why did he position crew between tracks 4 and 6? Why didn't he tell us the truth in the beginning? Why should anyone lie about someone's death?"

Rizvi continued: "We have learnt from reliable sources that Ayesha Shroff and Kaizad Gustad are responsible for a massive cover-up on the death of our sister, Nadia Khan."

The angry Rizvi added, "We have requested that an urgent investigation be begun against Ayesha Shroff. We understand that she and Kaizad Gustad are very well connected, but we trust the Indian justice system."

Jackie Shroff told rediff.com: "Kaizad must have had his own reasons for lying about the accident. I don't know what they are. I was not present on the sets. I only know what was reported in the newspapers. He said he had lied to get clearance to transfer the body [to the UK].

"Everyone has lied for some reason or the other. Aren't you a liar? Amn't I one? I don't know their story. I am not involved. I am just worried that my wife is being dragged into this."

Shroff claimed that his wife had nothing to do with Mumbai Central. "She is only helping them because she is a very close friend of Kaizad and his wife Alexandra Ritt," he said. "Where will Ayesha get the money to produce this film? She is still recovering from Boom [Gustad's expensive last film, which Ayesha Shroff produced and which bombed at the box office]. Ultimately, the money would come from me. She doesn't have a free-flowing account!

"She is helping Kaizad's wife by staying with her, since she is all alone now. She is helping her financially also."

Shroff said accidents happen all the time in the film industry. "In [Sanjay Leela Bhansali's] Devdas the studio got burnt and someone died," he recalled. "I nearly got killed in a film, Patthar Ke Insaan. I nearly lost my eyes another time and have been in many accidents in my career. I have known a fight master who got his hand blown off. Chalte chalte, accidents keep happening. What we can do is keep first-aid on the sets, or have a doctor around, or be insured.

"What will they [the British high commision] find out? It was an accident! People have nothing to write about. They should be writing about pollution or the Olympic torch. They make this incident sound like a conspiracy. Why are they making such a big issue of this and getting carried away? Let us try to resolve this. Let the court do its work. My deepest condolences are with the family who lost their daughter."

Additional reportage from Ronjita Kulkarni