Jharkhand actor's death in Bagnan: Husband arrested

KOLKATA: The Police have arrested the husband of the Jharkhand actor Riya Kumari.

Riya Kumari, who goes by the screen name of Isha Aliya, was shot dead on National Highway 16 while travelling to Kolkata on Wednesday.

Riya's husband Prakash Kumar was arrested late on Wednesday night after her elder brother lodged a complaint at the Bagnan police station. He was produced at the Uluberia Court on Thursday and has been remanded to police custody for 12 days.

Meanwhile, on Thursday forensic experts visited the spot twice to collect samples for examination. This apart the autopsy surgeon in his primary opinion informed the cops that Riya is suspected to have been shot on her head just above the right eye while she was sleeping.

Police have found a few pillows and a mattress from inside the car. Though police suspect that Prakash killed Riya, the accused denied it. When Prakash was taken to the court, he said: "I did not kill her."

Sources informed that Riya's brother told the cops that Prakash had married another woman before but was not divorced.

It is alleged that Prakash used to send money to his first wife and that too from the earnings of Riya as he did not earn much. Police also came to know about life insurance policy on Riya's name and are probing if she was killed for it.

Riya was shot dead by unknown miscreants when she resisted a snatching attempt, Prakash had claimed.

He also told the cops that his purse was snatched. But on Thursday he claimed that a bag containing money of around Rs 59 thousand was missing from the car. This ambiguity in Prakash's statement is also being checked.

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.