In a significant development that will strengthen the Prosecution’s case in the Sheena Bora murder case, the CBI on Monday informed a special court here that it had no objection whatsoever in making key accused Indrani Mukerjea’s former driver Shyamvar Rai an approver in the case.
less than a month after Indrani’s driver informed the special court that he wanted to turn an approver and disclose “certain truths” about the brutal murder of Sheena committed on April 24, 2012, the CBI made a formal submission before the court that it had no objection to Rai being made an approver, provided that he was prepared to reveal all the truth in connection with the case.
“We have filed our reply and have said that we don’t have any objection in making Rai an approver provided that he reveals all the truth in connection with the case,” a senior CBI official said.
Within days after he wrote a two-page letter to the CBI court offering his readiness to reveal truth and seeking pardon in the case, Rai — who was part of the execution of Sheena’s murder — had on May 11 2016 told Special Judge HS Mahajan that he wanted to share the facts relating to the commission of sensational offence.
“I am aware about the acts connected with the commission of the offence and was a participant to the murder (of Sheena),” Rai had told the special court.
Special CBI prosecutor Kavita Patil had, on May 17, had sought more time to file its reply on the desire expressed by Rai, following which special Judge Majahan had adjourned the case till June 6.
Rai, whose was arrested by the Mumbai police on August 21, 2015 for alleged possession of 7.66 mm pistol had brought to light the Sheena Bora's ghastly murder and led to the arrest of her mother Indrani and other accused in the case, had told the court that he was “repentant” for his act and that he was under “no pressure, threat or coercion” to reveal the facts in the case.
This is not for the first time that Rai has offered to “reveal the truth” in the Sheena Bora murder case. Based on a letter written by Rai to a city magistrate’s court offering to “reveal the truth”, a city court had in the second week of November 2015 recorded Rai’s statement under the provisions of Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code, which unlike a police statement is admissible in court. The Magistrate’s court had sent Rai’s statement to the trial court subsequently. At that time, the issue of Rai wanting to turn into an approver was still in the realm of speculation.
The CBI — which took over the investigations into the Sheena Bora murder case from the Mumbai police on September 29 — had on November 19, 2015 filed a comprehensive chargesheet, running into 1,000-odd pages, against Indrani Mukherjea, her second husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai.
On that same evening, the CBI arrested former CEO of Star India and co-founder of INX Media Pvt ltd and Indrani’s husband Peter Mukherjea in connection with the sensational crime.
The chargesheet, containing statements of 150 witnesses, 200 documents and seven statements recorded before magistrate, was filed before magistrate RV Adone at Esplanade court in south Mumbai.
The CBI’s chargesheet in the case had come a week after the magistrate's court recorded Shyamvar Rai’s confession under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code (Cr PC) which is admissible as evidence during the trial of the case.
During his confession, Rai reportedly spelt out the roles played by Indrani, her second husband Sanjeev Khanna and himself in the murder of Sheena Bora.
It may be recalled that Indrani and other two arrested accused — Sanjeev and Shyamvar Rai — allegedly “kidnapped” Sheena between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm on April 24, 2012, from Bandra (west) in their car and strangulated the latter the vehicle and that on the following morning they carried the body of the deceased packed in a bag (which had they kept in the rear side of the car) to the jungles Gogade Khurd village off the Khopoli-Pen Road, where they doused the bag with petrol and set it on fire.
Four days after Rai’s arrest, Indrani — wife of Peter Mukherjea — was arrested on August 25, 2015 for her alleged role in the murder of Sheena Bora, her daughter from her first marriage with Siddharth Das.
A day later, Indrani's second husband Sanjeev Khanna was arrested from Kolkata. Both Khanna and Rai have reportedly confessed to their crime, during the interrogation carried out by the Mumbai police.
After taking over the investigations in the case from the Mumbai police on September 29, the CBI registered a case against Indrani and two other accused under eight Sections of the IPC, including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) relating to the alleged murder of Sheena Bora. The other sections under which the three accused have been booked Section 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), Section 201, 202, 203 of IPC (destruction of evidence and giving false information), and Section 2 (25) of the Arms Act.