Actor death case: Autopsy lens on time-of-death claim
Times of India | 31 December 2022
HOWRAH: The preliminary post-mortem report of Jharkhand actor and YouTuber Riya Kumari alias Isha Alya - who was allegedly shot dead on NH-16 at Bagnan in Howrah on Wednesday - indicated that she had died at least three or four hours earlier than 5-5.30am, the time of shooting as claimed by her husband, Jaiprakash Kumar Rajni alias Prakash Albela.
His brother, Sandeep Sharma, who is suspected to be a sharpshooter, was arrested by Howrah Police on Friday from Kolaghat. A local court remanded him in police custody for 12 days. Meanwhile, Riya was cremated at the Hazaribag Municipal Burning Ghat here on Friday afternoon.
Prakash told cops that his wife had stepped out of the car after three miscreants had tried to snatch his wallet when he parked the vehicle on NH-16 to relieve himself.
Prakash claimed she was shot point blank by the miscreants. The forensics suggested that the woman had been shot when she was sleeping and that the remnants of a bullet were found in the car, not outside. Cops said the findings also contradicted the statement of Albela who was arrested.
CCTV footage of the area did not indicate any such incident during the time as told by Prakash. Howrah (Rural) SP Swati Bhangalia said, "Sandeep is named in the FIR. He was arrested following Prakash's statement.
We have substantial evidence against him." Sandeep claimed that he is innocent and has come to Bengal to meet his brother. The woman's brother, Ajay Rana, claimed this is a lie as she had gone to a police station in Jharkhand to lodge a complaint of assault and attempt to murder against Sandeep four years ago.