B. P. Singh, the producer and director who created the Indian television crime series CID, died early on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, in Mumbai after a massive heart attack. He was 77. The filmmaker Ashoke Pandit announced the death on Instagram. Singh was taken to Surya Hospital in Santacruz, where he was declared dead.
“A brilliant filmmaker who captivated the nation with his crime shows C.I.D and Aahat,” Pandit wrote. “His work is still and will continue to be an inspiration to generations to come.”
CID
CID began on Sony TV in 1998. It followed a team of Crime Investigation Department officers in Mumbai, led by Shivaji Satam’s ACP Pradyuman with Aditya Srivastava as Abhijeet and Dayanand Shetty as Daya, as they solved murders and other serious crimes. Singh was its creator, director and producer. The show ran until 2018 and returned in 2024, becoming one of the longest-running series in Indian television. Its characters and catchphrases became part of popular culture. Singh himself appeared from time to time as DCP Shamsher Singh Chitrole.
In 2004, to mark six years on air, Singh shot a special episode, “The Inheritance,” in a single continuous take lasting 111 minutes. It earned the show a place in the Limca Book of Records and a Guinness World Record. The series also launched the CID Gallantry Awards in 2010.
Aahat and other shows
Singh also produced Aahat, Sony TV’s horror anthology, which began in 1995 as a suspense thriller and switched to supernatural stories after ratings jumped for a ghost episode. It ran on and off until 2015. His other shows included Khaaki, Hum Ne Li Hai Shapath and the silent comedy Gutur Gu (2010). His production company was Fireworks Productions.
From cameraman to creator
Born in Dehradun, Singh trained at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and joined the state broadcaster Doordarshan as a news cameraman in 1973. While preparing a murder-mystery TV film for Doordarshan, Sirf Char Din, he began spending time with Mumbai’s Crime Branch, which gave him a lifelong interest in detective work. He went on to make the Doordarshan series Ek Shunya Shunya. He later served as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India and as president of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association.
Tributes
Dayanand Shetty, who played Inspector Daya, told HT City that Singh had been unwell for some time. “BP Singh ji had no other life, other than making content,” he said. “He was also one of the best cameramen we had.” His cremation is scheduled for October 28 at Oshiwara Crematorium in Mumbai.