Former media baron Peter Mukerjea – arrested in connection with the killing of Sheena Bora, daughter of his wife and prime accused Indrani Mukerjea – was on Friday charged with conspiracy to murder. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Peter knew about the plot to murder Sheena all along and was in touch with Indrani on the day the crime was committed in 2012.
The agency also told a court Peter had misled his son Rahul about Sheena’s whereabouts but he recorded his conversation with his father, who said that Sheena was fine and was in the US.
In her first comment to the media, Indrani said on Friday she had been framed in the case. “Mujhe fasaya gaya hai,” she repeated in Hindi, while being taken back to jail. A Mumbai magistrate extended the judicial custody of the three prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case till December 3.
Simultaneously, the murder case has now been committed to a Special CBI Court which will hear the matter from next month. The three accused are: the victim’s mother Indrani Mukerjea, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamwar Rai. They were arrested in August last week from Mumbai and Kolkata and have been in custody since then.
Peter’s arrest on Thursday came hours after the agency filed a charge-sheet against Indrani, Khanna and Rai. It was also revealed Rai had confessed to his role, and that of his co-accused, before a CBI court – making the statement admissible in court. The confession in court was recorded earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a CBI official on Friday said that constant “blackmailing” of Indrani by Sheena and her relationship with Rahul Mukerjea were among the reasons for her murder in April 2012. The official, requesting anonymity, said Peter had played “a major role” in Sheena’s murder.
The CBI, sources said on Thursday, had been questioning Peter for the past three days. They said Peter’s son from his first marriage, Rahul Mukerjea — who was engaged to Sheena — was also being questioned. The agency was looking into the reasons for Peter being in the UK and Rome at the time of Sheena’s murder in 2012. Questions had also arisen after he revealed he had known Sheena was his wife’s daughter — and not her sister, as Indrani had told everyone else.
Then, there was the matter of the rental car, allegedly hired by Peter, in which Sheena was killed. Sources said they were trying to find out why Peter had called up a rental firm in Worli while he was in the UK to hire a car for Indrani. The CBI has recorded the statement of the firm’s owner Faizal Ahmed, reportedly a friend of Peter. According to investigators, Sheena Bora, 24, an employee with a private company in Mumbai, was allegedly strangulated in a car on the night of April 24, 2012.
Meanwhile, Peter’s son Rahul Mukerjea, who had come to attend the court hearing on Friday told reporters that his father’s arrest came as as “shock” to him. “I don’t believe he knew (anything about the murder).. otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” he told reporters.
Rahul, who was seen coming out of the CBI office around 10.30 am, is said to have been grilled by the agency for over 12 hours.