Putting to rest all speculations, IG (Prisons), Bipin Singh on Saturday said that Indrani Mukerjea, main accused in high-profile Sheena Bora murder case, had collapsed due to weakness and there was no drug overdose or poison that she either consumed or was administered to her.
“Indrani Mukerjea had briefly stopped taking medicines and has a history of fainting,” the IG (Prisons) said.
Meanwhile, the government-run JJ hospital has found traces of cocaine, opiates and amphetamines in the urine sample of Indrani Mukerjea when she was admitted last week. Indrani, the prime accused in her daughter Sheena Bora’s murder case, was discharged on October 6 and has since denied she is addicted to drugs.
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The list of questions being raised over her sudden illness and the subsequent medical findings prompted the state to order a high-level probe on Friday.
According to a report in Times of India, the discharge states that traces of amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methadone, opiates, phencyclidine and THC (tetra hydro cannabin) were found in the toxin screening test (toxin screening tests are quick and simple to conduct, but experts said their results contain several false-positives and false-negatives).
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The discharge summary records she was under medication; she was taking benzodiazepine, an anti-anxiety drug. However, after being discharged, Indrani had told IG (prisons) Bipin Kumar Singh that she was not on medication since September 26 and had never made an attempt to commit suicide in jail.
Medical education minister Vinod Tawde on Friday ordered a high-level probe into the entire episode. “I will personally monitor the probe. If it is found that special favours were given to her, stern action will be taken against erring officials,” Tawde said. He added that he would ask the home department to look into the outcome of the test conducted by a private hospital.
Additional chief secretary (home) K P Bakshi confirmed that Indrani had told the jail administration that she had never taken drugs or attempted suicide. On the findings of the private hospital, Bakshi said he was told by J J hospital dean T P Lahane that they were preliminary findings and in the final investigations, the reports were negative. “We will have to go by the final report,” he said.
ALSO READ: Indrani Mukerjea Reveals What Put Her In Coma, Claims It’s Not A Suicide Attempt
Lahane said Indrani was admitted in the critical care unit since she was critical. “It was not possible to shift her out of the CCU or to the prison ward, since she was unconscious for a prolonged period. After she regained consciousness on October 6, she was immediately discharged from the hospital and sent back to Byculla jail,” he said.
Asked why the urine sample was sent to a private hospital, Lahane claimed that although it was standard practice to send samples to the state FSL, an exception was made here in view of the urgency of the case. “The forensic science laboratory takes nearly two to three days to submit a report, whereas private hospitals provide the report within four hours,” Lahane said.
CBI has asked the Maharashtra Government to preserve samples all the body fluids of Indrani Mukherjea, prime suspect in her daugther Sheena Bora murder case, collected during her recent hospitalisation along with reports prepared by various authorities.
CBI sources said the agency is also translating into English all the documents collected from Mumbai Police which were mainly in Marathi.
The agency, which has taken over the murder case probe, has asked Maharashtra Government to preserve samples of stomach wash, urine and blood of Indrani which were collected during her recent hospitalisation.
The agency has also asked the state government to provide it with inquiry report of Byculla women’s prison authority and any other report prepared by other authorities and action taken with regard to the incident.
They said the agency is already planning to question the three accused in prison for which it has got permission till October 19.
Indrani, who is currently in jail, was admitted to state-run J J Hospital here on October 2 in an unconscious condition after she complained of “uneasiness” and was discharged four days later.
After Indrani’s hospitalisation, conflicting reports had emerged on suspected drug overdose in prison. While one report said she had overdosed on anti-depressant pills, the other fsaid it had found no evidence of this.
Maharashtra government had ordered probe in the incident under IG (Prison) Bipin Kumar Singh.
Indrani was arrested on August 25 this year for her alleged role in the murder of Sheena, her 24-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, on April 24 , 2012. Sheena was killed and her body burnt and disposed of in a forest in Raigad district the next day.
The two other accused in the case are Shyamvar Rai, Indrani’s former driver and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna.
The sources said DIG Lata Manoj Kumar, who is supervising the probe, has asked the team to minutely scan all documents provided by Mumbai Police, which was probing the matter, before the questioning session can begin in the prison.
They said the agency will examine the role of the brother of Sheena, her friend Rahul and Indrani’s husband Peter Mukerjea.
CBI is trying to see if there were any loose ends in the findings of Mumbai Police which need to be probed to make it a watertight case “following which all aspects of motive which could be behind the killing will be examined”, the sources said.