Bengali actor’s viscera examination hits election hurdle

Bhubaneswar: The examination of viscera samples of Bengali actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee has hit a roadblock, with Balasore police attributing the delay to Digha Mohana police being occupied with election duty in West Bengal.The actor drowned during shooting for a TV serial at Talasari beach in Balasore last month.“During the post-mortem examination at Digha State General Hospital on March 29, medical officers preserved his viscera samples. However, Digha police are yet to send them for forensic analysis to establish the cause of death. When we sought the report, they informed us the samples would be dispatched immediately after the first phase of election concludes on April 23,” a Balasore police officer told TOI.The post-mortem indicated that Banerjee’s lungs were filled with seawater and sand. On April 4, Talasari police registered a case against five senior officials of the production company on charges of negligence leading to the actor’s death on March 29, and fabricating a false narrative around the incident.Police sources said the testimony of Banerjee’s wife, actor Priyanka Sarkar, who is the complainant in the case, is likely to be recorded on Wednesday. “Summons have been issued to the accused, directing them to appear at Talasari police station on April 24. We have asked Digha Mohana police for all relevant case records,” the officer added.