Riya Kumari aka Isha Alya, a regional actor in Jharkhand, was shot dead on Wednesday when she was travelling with her husband Prakash Kumar on the national highway in West Bengal's Howrah district. The murder allegedly took place at 6 am when the couple were travelling from Ranchi to West Bengal, with their three-year-old daughter. Kumar claimed she was murdered for resisting a robbery bid.
Kumar, who identified himself as a film producer, told police that they were attacked when he stopped their car near the Mahishrekha bridge on National Highway 16 in Rajapur at around 6 am to relieve himself. He told police that his wife got down from the vehicle on seeing the robbers and tried to stop them. They shot her through the ear from close range, he said. Riya Kumari used to act in movies in Jharkhand's regional languages like Khortha. She also appeared in several regional albums with the name Isha Alya. Prakash is a film and album producer. He makes regional films and song albums. Kumari was taken to the Uluberia Hospital after police reached the spot. Doctors at the hospital declared her dead.