Himanshi death: No trace of gunpowder found on body, clothes of victim

This could indicate that Himanshi did not fire the weapon. To be more conclusive, the police are awaiting the reports of the reconstruction of the scene of crime

The much awaited forensic report of Himanshi Kashyap from the Agra laboratory revealed no trace of gunpowder was found on hand swabs taken from the body, the police said. A weapon, when fired, leaves particles of gunpowder on the hands of the person who fired it.

Himanshi was found dead in mysterious circumstances at her in-laws’ residence in Ghaziabad on April 6. (HT Photo)

“This could indicate that Himanshi did not fire the weapon. However, to be more conclusive, we are awaiting the reports of the reconstruction of the scene of crime from the Lucknow laboratory. Further, the bullet found in her head was a .32 calibre and it was fired from close range,” Manish Mishra, investigating officer in the case, said.

Close range, as per investigation parlance, indicates that the weapon was fired from 0-1.5 feet.

Himanshi was found dead in mysterious circumstances at her in-laws’ residence on April 6.

Himanshi was daughter-in-law to Bahujan Samaj Party Rajya Sabha MP Narendra Kashyap who is expelled from BSP and is lodged at Dasna jail in connection with the case.

Another interesting revelation was that no trace of gunpowder was found on the clothes of the accused persons, Himanshi’s in-laws, or on clothes of others who were present inside the Sanjay Nagar house on April 6.

“The clothes were collected for forensics only when the police came to know of the incident. Further, the reports have revealed that one shot was fired from the .32 revolver, which was found a distance away from the scene of crime,” Mishra said.

A team of forensic experts from FSL Lucknow, including director BS Upadhyaya, reconstructed the scene of crime at MP Kashyap’s house on April 22. The results of the analysis are awaited.

Following Himanshi’s death, her family lodged an FIR at Kavi Nagar police station against her in-laws following which MP Kashyap, his wife Devendari and son Sagar were lodged behind bars. In a call taken by the BSP leadership in May, MP Kashyap and Hiralal Kashyap, Himanshi’s father and a BSP politician from Badaun, were expelled from party.