Sridevi’s body enroute to Mumbai, expected to reach at around 10 p.m.
Dubai, Feb 27 (IANS) Indian actress Sridevi’s body is being flown back to Mumbai and is expected to arrive at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport around 10 p.m.
Her body is being flown back in a Reliance Transport Embraer jet 135BJ which had reached Dubai on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. to carry her mortal remains, but had to stay back because the Dubai Prosecutor’s Office was still investigating the case involving her death.
The plane took off from Dubai International airport at 5.30 p.m. local time or 7.00 p.m. India time and is scheduled to land at 10.10 p.m., according to flightaware.com which tracks all flights through their transponders.
Sridevi’s death on Saturday night sparked a lot of speculation, but after the Dubai Prosecutor’s Office said it was closing the case following completion of investigations, the focus shifted back to the funeral which is now scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
The prosecutor’s office in Dubai said the forensic report had stated that she had died from “accidental drowning” in her bathtub, after losing consciousness. The case had been closed, the prosecutor’s office said.
Her body was handed over to her bereaved family on Tuesday as no foul play was apparently suspected by the investigators and was then taken for embalming, following which it reached Dubai airport to be placed aboard the special flight.
A tweet from the official feed of the Government of Dubai Media Office read: “The decision to release the body came after all the investigations and procedural matters followed in such incidents were completed, in order to determine all its circumstances and ensure that justice was done within the framework of the law.”
According to a statement on behalf of Sridevi’s husband Boney Kapoor, their daughters Khushi and Janhvi, and the entire Kapoor and Ayyappan (Sridevi’s side) families, the body will be kept for three hours at the Celebration Sports Club, Andheri west, near her residence from 9.30 a.m. onwards to enable people and her fans pay their last respects.
The final journey of the star, best known for her performances in iconic Bollywood films like “Mr. India”, “Nagina”, “Sadma”, “Chandni” and “Khuda Gawah”, will commence at 2 p.m. from the club to the Vile Parle Seva Samaj Crematorium & Hindu Cemetery at S.V. Road in Vile Parle west, where it will reach around 3.30 p.m.
