Husband arrested in Jharkhand actor Riya Kumari's highway murder in West Bengal
Howrah (WB) (PTI): The husband of Jharkhand actor Riya Kumari was on Thursday arrested for allegedly murdering her, police said.
Riya Kumari, who goes by the screen name of Isha Aliya, was shot dead on National Highway 16 in West Bengal's Howrah district in the early hours of Wednesday when she was heading to Kolkata along with her husband Prakash Kumar and two-year-old daughter, they said.
Prakash had told the police that she was killed by a group of robbers who attacked them when he stopped the car to relieve himself near Mahishrekha in Bagnan police station area.
Police said they arrested him after interrogation and on the basis of a complaint lodged by Riya Kumar's family on Wednesday night.
He has been booked under sections 302 (murder), 201 (giving false information), 498A (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and various sections of the Arms Act, police said.
A hunt is on for others involved in the case, they said.
Riya Kumari, a native of Hazaribag in Jharkhand, was a popular face in Nagpuri music videos on YouTube, besides acting in a few Nagpuri films. Known to be very soft-spoken in the film industry, she lived in Ranchi's Morabadi area.
The husband, who identified himself as a producer, told the police that a gang of three men attacked him around around 6 am, trying to rob his belongings. When his wife rushed to rescue him, they shot her and fled the spot immediately.
He also told police that he took his wife to the vehicle and drove about 3 km in search of help. When he saw some people along the highway in Kulgachia-Pirtala, he narrated the incident to them.
These locals helped Kumar take his wife to the SCC Medical College and Hospital in Uluberia where doctors declared her brought dead, police said.
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Conspiracy afoot to 'tarnish' image of Dharmasthala: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.
