Bengaluru: Massive search operations continued for the second day yesterday for bodies of the two stunt men who had drowned after jumping from a helicopter into a reservoir near here during filming of an action sequence for a Kannada film.

National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Fire department, locals and scuba drivers are searching for stunt men Anil and Uday, who had drowned on Monday at Tippagondanahalli lake in neighbouring Ramanagara district.

Rescue teams have complained about the depth and poor visibility due to pollutants in the water, affecting the operation.

Anil and Uday, along with popular actor Duniya Vijay were performing the stunt to shoot the climax of the film “Maastigudi”, for which they had to jump off from the helicopter into the water, but it went awry.

The stunt men duo, who were reportedly not equipped with swimming skills, had drowned as the faulty rescue boat could not reach them on time, while Vijay was rescued by a fisher man on his country boat.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the incident a “clear act of negligence”.

He said “the makers of the film should take the responsibility as it was their duty to take precautionary measure.”

Meanwhile, police have registered a criminal case against those responsible for the incident.

Stating that adequate precautionary measures were not taken before performing the stunt, leading to loss of lives, senior police officials said a criminal case has been registered at Tavarekere police station.

They said those responsible like the director, producer, stunt master and others would face an inquiry.

On the other hand, Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce said it would take action against those responsible.

“Action has to be taken, we will take. We will have to put an end to such acts of negligence and arrogance…mistake is a mistake and because of our mistake we have lost these lives,” Chamber President Sa Ra Govindu told reporters here.

He said the entire film industry would sit together in a couple of days and decide on what kind of action should be taken against whom.