The Kolkata Police has slapped murder charges against reality television show producers who allegedly beat up and pushed a hotel caretaker off the fifth floor of the Ritz hotel in West Midnapur on Saturday evening.

The caretaker, Prasun Adhikary, severely injured from the fall, died on Monday night. Police have also ruled out the claim made by the TV show producers that Prasun fell while trying to escape after harassing the female contestants staying in the hotel.

"We have filed charges under section 302 of IPC against accused Gautam Jain, Rajiv Mehra and contestant Somnath Roy Chowdhury," Superintendent of Police, West Midnapore district, R K Singh said. Jain, Mehra, and Roy Chowdhury have been in five-day police remand since Saturday.

Asked if Prasun might have fallen off the terrace while trying to escape, Singh said, "This is highly unlikely. There were other ways out of the fifth floor that Prasun knew. Moreover, the manner in which his body was found lying on the ground indicated that he was pushed from the terrace." The post-mortem report is awaited.

Police officers are also looking for Romi Nag Chowdhury, one of the contestants of the show, who is among the accused. A special investigating team from Midnapur raided her apartment in Lake Town, but failed to trace her. According to the police, Romi fled the hotel immediately after the incident. The team of Fatafati, a reality show aired on a private channel, were in Midnapore to shoot for a special episode on Friday.

Meanwhile, Prasun's friends, colleagues and members of various clubs went to Midnapur town on Tuesday and demanded strict punishment for the accused persons.