28 October,2015 02:15 PM IST | | Vinod Kumar Menon
Byculla Women's prison authorities informed a court in Mumbai that Indrani Mukerjea, main accused in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, was suffering from suspected dengue
Byculla Women's prison authorities on Wednesday informed a Metropolitan Magistrate court in Mumbai that Indrani Mukerjea, main accused in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, was suffering from suspected dengue.
A senior doctor attached to the jail speaking to midday said, "Her (Indrani) platelet has been falling drastically in the last few days and this is a matter of concern. Her platelet level on October 22 was 3.50 lakhs per microliter (mcL) and today it has come down to 67,000 per microliter (mcL). She has been complaining of fever and diarrhea in the prison since last few days and a senior doctor attached to JJ hospital was also attending her daily."
"We have sent the blood samples already for dengue, malaria, h1n1 etc and the initial reports have come negative for any of the ailments. However with the platelet level falling drastically, we will be collecting fresh blood samples once she is admitted and will redo all the tests on her. We suspect it might be a case of dengue, but only tests reports will confirm," the doctor said.
Meanwhile the jail doctor has already appraised Special Inspector General (Prison) South region Bipin Kumar Singh and jail superintendent CA Indurkar about her health condition and need for hospitalisation.
The doctor on condition of anonymity said, "With platelet level falling drastically, there could be high risk of internal hemorrhage and we need to diagnose the reason for same at the earliest and start the line of treatment accordingly to avoid any complications."
Meanwhile when contacted T P Lahane said, "I am in a meeting and will speak later" Attempts made to contact Bipin Kumar Singh did not yield any result.
At the time of filing this report for midday online edition, a special JJ hospital ambulance was parked outside Byculla jail for transporting Indrani from the jail to hospital.
The jail officer's report, submitted to Magistrate R V Adone, came after the court on Tuesday directed the prison authorities to produce Indrani in view of the application made by CBI seeking her voice samples. The central probe agency had told the court on Tuesday that it had got hold of some call records which purportedly featured her voice, and therefore it wanted her voice sample for verification.
The local court on October 19 had extended the custody of Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamvar Rai till October 31. On September 7, a fortnight after their arrest and prolonged interrogation, the court had remanded Indrani and Rai to judicial custody till September 21, which was later extended till October 5 and further upto October 19. A day after on September 8, Khanna too was remanded in judicial custody.
Indrani, Khanna and Rai have been arrested on the charge of murdering 24-year-old Sheena and disposing off her body in a Raigad forest in April 2012. The police had exhumed remains of a body from Raigad forest and later claimed that digital superimposition of the profile of Sheena had matched with the skull recovered from the forest.
The police have also extensively grilled Indrani's husband Peter Mukerjea, though he is not an accused in the case. Others questioned in connection with the case include Peter's son Rahul Mukherjea and Vidhie, daughter of Indrani and Sanjeev Khanna.
The police have also questioned Siddharth Das, biological father of Sheena and Mikhail Bora. Sheena was allegedly strangled in a car, then her body was burnt and dumped at a forest in Raigad, about 84 kms from Mumbai.
On October 2, Indrani was taken to J J Hospital from Byculla womens' prison in an unconscious state, fuelling speculation that she had overdosed on anti-depressant drugs. But the probe by Inspector General (prisons) ruled out the possibility of drug overdose, poisoning or suicide bid. On October 6, the 43-year-old was discharged and sent back to jail. CBI was permitted to question her in the jail.
- With inputs from agencies
