Guwahati, Oct. 1: Durga Ranee Bora, mother of Indrani Mukherjea, who is accused of murdering her daughter Sheena Bora, passed away at her Sundarpur residence here this evening due to old age ailments. She was 81.

Indrani's son Mikhail Bora, who was looking after the deceased, said his grandmother breathed her last at 5.30pm. The cremation took place at Nabagraha crematorium late at night.

Mumbai police said they have informed Indrani of her mother's death.

Durga Ranee was bedridden for a couple of years and was suffering from dementia. She leaves behind her husband Upendra Kumar Bora, who has also been ailing for the past few years. When stories about Sheena's murder tumbled out in August, both Upendra Kumar and Durga Ranee remained oblivious to all the drama that engulfed the country. They did not know that Sheena was no more.

In August, when Mikhail was taken to Mumbai by the police for questioning, Guwahati police had provided Durga Ranee and Upendra Kumar with a nurse and two security guards.

Siblings Sheena and Mikhail were given in adoption by their mother Indrani to their grandmother Durga Ranee, according to the first page of an affidavit attributed to "Mrs Indrani Bora" that surfaced on August 28 this year. The affidavit may have been filed in 1993.