Ahead of arguments on framing of charges in the Sheena Bora murder case, the CBI on Friday filed a second supplementary charge-sheet in the case, contending among other things that the prime accused Indrani Mukherjea had kept her husband and co-accused Peter in the loop about the location chosen for the disposal of Sheena’s body.
In a supplementary charge-sheet filed before the court of special CBI judge HS Mahajan, the central investigating agency said that Indrani spoke to Peter over telephone and updated him about the location where she and other accused had disposed of Sheena’s body a day after the latter (Sheena) was murdered in a running car. As part of its supplementary charge-sheet, the CBI also produced the records of the telephone conversations between Indrani and Peter had after the former disposed of Sheena’s body on April 25, 2012
Spelling out one of the motives behind the murder, CBI told the court that Indrani and Peter had not only disapproved the amoral “intimate relationship” between Sheena and Rahul, but would also often quarrel about the issue.
Sheena was daughter of Indrani from her first live in partner Siddhartha Das. Incidentally, Sheena was in a live-in relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, Peter’’s son from his first marriage–a fact in essence meant that Rahul was in an “intimate relationship” with his step sister.
The supplementary charge-sheet also mentioned Peter always dissuaded Vidhi daughter from second marriage with Sheena, from having any contact with Rahul and Sheena.
Among other things, the charge-sheet also stated that a month after Sheena’s murder, Peter wrote an email to his son Rahul that read thus: “Initially, I was okay with your relationship (with Sheena), as I figured that due to economic pressures it would break anyway as Sheena would want more from life and that she would tell you this and leave you if she didn’t get it after a while”.
On Saturday, the special court will hear arguments from both the sides over framing of charges against the accused in the case.
The special court is expected to frame charges against the three accused – Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her current husband Peter – sometime next week.
Indrani was arrested on August 25, 2015 for her alleged role in the murder of her daughter Sheena. A day later, Indrani's former husband Sanjeev Khanna was arrested from Kolkata.
The CBI – which took over the investigations into the Sheena Bora murder case from the Mumbai police on September 29 – on November 19, 2015 filed a comprehensive charge-sheet, running into 1,000-odd pages, against Indrani, her former husband Khanna and driver Rai. On that same evening, the CBI arrested Peter Mukherjea in connection with the sensational crime.
Initially, there were four accused in the Sheena Bora murder case – Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna, her driver Shyamvar Rai and Peter Mukherjea. Of them, Rai was granted pardon and made an approver in the case on June 20, 2016.
It may be recalled that Indrani and other two arrested accused – Sanjeev and Rai – had allegedly “kidnapped” Sheena between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm on April 24, 2012, from Bandra (west) in their car. She was allegedly strangulated in the car on the same evening 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.
The CBI told the high court that Peter was in touch with all the accused prior to the murder, the day on which the murder took place and even after that.
"On 24 April, 2012, when Indrani messaged Sheena asking her to meet her, Indrani was in constant touch with Peter. After sending messages to Sheena, Indrani used to call Peter and speak at length. Even on the day when Indrani and Rai went to Raigad to dispose of Sheena's body, Peter and Indrani were in constant touch," the CBI affidavit had said.
In its affidavit, the CBI also told the high court that Rahul used to inquire with Peter about Sheena's whereabouts after she disappeared all of a sudden without informing him. “Peter and Indrani intentionally were misleading Rahul all through about Sheena’s whereabouts,” the agency had stated.
On February 16, 2016, the CBI filed filed a supplementary charge-sheet against Peter in the Sheena Bora murder case for various offences in connection with the killing of his step-daughter.
While Khanna and Peter are currently lodged in Arthur Road prison, Indrani is in Byculla women’s jail.