A Magistrate’s court on Monday extended the custody of former media baron and accused in the Sheena Bora murder case Peter Mukherjea, till November 26, after the investigating agency told the court that he was “deliberately concealing facts” relating to the sensational murder and disposal of Sheena’s body.
Though the CBI had sought the extension of Peter’s remand by 10 days on the ground that the “investigations is at a crucial stage” and that it wanted to subject Peter to custody for more days, the city court extended his custody by three days till November 26.
That the CBI is looking at the financial transactions as one of the motives behind the crime became evident as it confirmed that it had interrogated Peter on the financial matters relating to him and his wife and prime accused in the case Indrani.
Peter — who has been charged with murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence in the Sheena Bora murder case — disclosed to the CBI officials during the interrogation that he and Indrani had made investments to the tune of crores of rupees in the form of fixed deposits in India and some immovable properties were acquired by them in the UK during 2010-11. “But, he did not disclose the source of money for acquiring the assets,” the CBI stated in its remand application.
Admitting that Peter was a tough nut to crack, the CBI told the court that the accused was not co-operating with it in the investigations and that he had not yet come clean on the various issues relating to the case.
“It is clear that he is deliberately concealing the facts relating to the murder of Sheena Bora and disposal of her dead body. He did not tell the reason of telling lies after Sheena’s disappearance, “the CBI stated in its application seeking extension in Peter’s remand by 10 days.
The CBI’s submission before the Magistrate’s court should be seen in the context of the agency charge that conspired with wife Indrani Mukherjea in the murder of the her daughter, that he had destroyed the evidence like mobile phone and other items belonging to his slain step daughter and that he had “misled” his biological son Rahul that Sheena was very much “alive” in “doing well” in the United States.
The CBI, which had Peter in its custody for three days, told the court that its officials subjected the accused to custodial interrogation, but “he did not disclose facts relevant to the case”. “He did not even disclose the contents of his conversation between him and Indrani, his second wife and prime accused in the case, on the day of incident (April 24, 2012) over phone.
Peter was in london on the day of incident. “However, he ( Peter) was constantly in touch with Indrani Mukherjea prior to during and after the incident. Telephone records show conversations of 20 to 25 minutes on the night of Sheena’s murder and the day the body was disposed,” Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh had told the court on Friday, while alleging that Peter had played an “active and important” role in the elimination of his step-daughter Sheena.
Opposing the extension in the remand of Peter, Senior counsel Amit Desai representing the accused said that the investigation agencies - the Mumbai police and the CBI - had interrogated his client for nearly three months after the registration of the FIR and therefore, there was no ground for his remand extension
The prosecution’s case has been that Indrani and other two arrested accused — her second husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai — allegedly “abducted” Sheena between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm on April 24, 2012, from Bandra (west) in their car and “strangulated” the latter in the vehicle and that on the following morning they carried the body 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.
The latest revelation in the case is that Peter, who is fourth accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, was part of the conspiracy to kill 24-year-old Sheena, who is Indrani’s daughter from her first marriage with Siddharth Das,
It is quite likely that the CBI — which had filed a 1,000-page charge-sheet against Indrani and two others in the Sheena Bora murder case on Thursday last — will in likelihood file a supplement charge-sheet against Peter ahead of or during the trial in the case which has been committed to the CBI court. The CBI court is likely to hear the court from December 3.