Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 25: Young Malayalam filmmaker Nayana Sooryan, who had assisted several prominent directors in the industry, was found dead at her residence here, police said Monday.

Nayana (28) was found dead at her apartment on Sunday, but the exact cause of her death would be ascertained only after receiving the autopsy report, they said.

However, the police indicated that she had been under treatment for diabetes for some time.

As repeated calls to her mobile phone went unanswered, Nayana's mother got suspicious and informed her friends, who rushed to her apartment.

Despite repeated banging on the main door of the house, there was no response, following which they used a spare key to open it and found her lying dead in the bedroom, they added.

A proponent of parallel cinema, Nayana marked her space in the industry as an independent director through "Crossword", a 2017 anthology in which she did the sequel "Pakshikalude Mananam" with actors Vijay Babu and Mythili in the lead role.

Before that, she had worked as an associate director under several leading filmmakers including late Lenin Rajendran, Kamal, Jeethu Joseph and Dr Biju.

The filmmaker also directed several advertisements and stage shows in and outside the country.

Sources close to her said, the sudden demise of Rajendran, who passed away on January 14 this year following liver ailments, also affected Nayana.

She had made her debut in the tinsel town assisting Rajendran.

Hailing from Alappad in Kollam district, Nayana is survived by father Dinesan, mother Sheela and two siblings.

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Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has restrained its order directing an FIR against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with the alleged dual citizenship controversy.

The court will now hear the parties on whether prior notice to the accused was legally required.

A bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, which had in Friday in an oral order observed that prima facie cognisable offences appeared to be made out against Gandhi, and permitted the Uttar Pradesh government to hand over the probe to a central agency, said it would first examine the legal position on issuance of notice before passing any direction.

The development came after the bench, before signing its dictated order, came across a full court verdict mandating that notice be issued to the proposed accused in such matters.

The court noted that none of the counsel brought this legal requirement to its attention in the earlier hearing.

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The bench has posted the matter for April 20.

The order was passed on a plea filed by Karnataka-based BJP worker S Vignesh Shishir.

During the Friday proceedings, Deputy Solicitor General of India S B Pandey produced records of the Centre relating to the citizenship controversy, while government advocate V K Singh submitted on behalf of the state that the allegations prima facie disclosed cognisable offences.

After a hearing, the bench observed that material on record indicated that Gandhi had allegedly committed cognisable offences and that the matter warranted investigation.

In his petition, Shishir alleged that Gandhi was a UK citizen and had incorporated a company, M/s Backops Ltd, in August 2003, declaring his nationality as British.

The petitioner claimed that Gandhi submitted the company's annual returns in October 2005 and October 2006 listing his nationality as British, and that the firm was dissolved in February 2009.

He sought registration of an FIR against the former Congress president under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Official Secrets Act, the Foreigners Act and the Passport Act.

The complaint was initially filed before a special MP/MLA court in Rae Bareli and was later transferred to Lucknow on the petitioner's request.