'Bodyguard' director Siddique passes away in Kochi after suffering heart attack
Kochi, Aug 8: Noted Malayalam director and screenwriter Siddique died at a private hospital here, his family said on Tuesday.
Siddique (63), who was undergoing treatment at Amrita hospital here for over a month for various ailments, suffered a heart attack on Monday, hospital sources said on Tuesday.
His end came at 9.13 PM today, the sources said.
The filmmaker, who had helmed numerous superhit Malayalam movies, was in a critical condition and was on ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), which provides respiratory support when a person's lungs and heart are not performing adequately.
Siddique delivered several hit movies along with his friend Lal -- who is also an actor who played leading roles in various hit films himself such as 'Thenkasipattanam', 'Thommanum Makkalum', and 'Salt and Pepper' among others -- and the filmmaker duo was popularly known as 'Siddique-Lal'.
'Siddique-Lal' movies such as 'Ramji Rao Speaking', 'In Harihar Nagar', 'Godfather', 'Vietnam Colony' and 'Kabooliwala' were massive hits.
Siddique is also the director of blockbuster movies including 'Hitler', 'Friends', 'Chronic Bachelor', and 'Bodyguard', among others.
He directed the remake of his movie 'Bodyguard' starring Salman Khan in Hindi, which also became a superhit. In Tamil, it was titled 'Kavalan' starring Vijay and did well at the box office.
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8 deaths due to manual scavenging in Delhi, UP in 10 days: Activists demand FIR against culprits
New Delhi (PTI): Expressing concern over eight deaths in the ten days in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi allegedly due to manual scavenging, activists demanded strict action against those who are responsible for forcing sanitation workers to clean septic tanks without safety gear.
Under the banner of Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) and Justice News, activists at a press conference demanded that culprits be identified and FIR be immediately lodged under Manual Scavenging Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Talking to reporters, members of DASAM alleged that on May 2, a 57-year-old man and his 30-year-old son died while they were preparing a sewer line in Lucknow's Wazirgang area.
No officials from Jal Nigam visited the site for two hours and by the time they were taken to hospital, they were declared dead, they alleged.
A senior advocate of the Supreme Court and founder of Human Rights Law Network Colin Gonsalves said, "It is horrifying that workers are forced to enter sewer line without any protocol, machines or oxygen gears to clean sewer line."
Radhika Bordia, an independent journalist, said two daily wage workers died on May 3 after inhaling toxic gases while cleaning a septic tank of a private residence in Noida Sector 26.
"Another incident was reported from Mughalsarai where four people were killed while cleaning septic tank of a private residence," she said.
Bordia said that even after such incidents police do not take strict action.
"Under the Manual Scavenging Act, there is a law to rehabilitate the family members of any victim, providing government job to one of the family members and proper compensation," another activist Roma said, adding that the process was not being carried out.
She said on May 12, a sanitation worker was killed while cleaning a sewer in Rohini in Delhi.
The DASAM members also said they needed to unionise to fight for justice in such cases.
