A soft spoken girl with impeccable manners is how Sheena’s friends remember her. Born in Guwahati, Sheena was a bright student with a vision to make it big in life. She was an achiever who always wanted to venture out of Guwahati. She had friends who worked in Delhi and Mumbai and Sheena wanted to follow suit.
Immediately after finishing her higher secondary school, Sheena came to Mumbai looking for a career and more importantly to be with her mother. “Sheena was very emotional about our mother. She had many questions and wanted answers to all of them,” her brother Mikhail said.
Sheena pursued her graduation in Economics from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai and moved into Indrani’s home as her sister. In 2009, she joined Reliance Infrastructure as a management trainee and in 2011 became an assistant manager with Mumbai Metro One Pvt ltd (MMOPl), a joint venture company owned by Reliance Infrastructure, Veolia Transport and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.
While living with her mother in Mumbai, Sheena fell in love with Rahul (Peter Mukherjea’s son from this first marriage). Although Peter was fine with the relationship, Indrani was not too happy because Rahul was not earning.
“They used to converse in Assamese which was difficult for me to follow but I could gauge that there were a lot of problems. I assumed the sisters would talk it through and sort the issues,” Peter Mukherjea told mediapersons. On April 24, 2012 Sheena went on leave and was not seen again. Her mother, Indrani Mukerjea, claimed that Sheena finally saw reason and broke off with her boyfriend Rahul. Her friends were told that Sheena had gone to the US for higher studies. She had in fact been ruthlessly murdered by her mother.
The last time I saw her was in February 2012 when Sheena had come to Guwahati for a friends wedding. She never mentioned about going to the US,” Mikhail told reporters.
Peter Mukherjea: Ignorant husband
Born in United Kingdom, Peter Mukherjea had it in him to make it big. The Doon school product was always amongst the toppers and he developed a strong business acumen very early on in his career.When he was 29, Peter was chosen by global media baron Rupert Murdoch to steer his ship in India. Broadcast was much in news at that time as private broadcasting was still an upcoming phenomenon. Peter, as CEO of Star India, redefined entertainment in Indian by launching iconic shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
Peter hogged all media attention and his newly-wed glamorous wife Indrani received equal praise. In 2007, the couple hit the headlines when Peter announced his departure from Star India to launch a rival broadcast network, apparently at the behest of Indrani. That is how INX Network was born.
However, INX never really took off. The Mukerjeas were made to step down amid controversies and allegations of mismanagement and financial problems in 2009. As promoters, they were handsomely compensated for their stake in the venture. The couple shifted base to Bristol in the UK soon after the exit. “They were pretty much settled in the UK though they would occasionally visit their house at Worli in Mumbai,” says a person close to the couple. “Early this year, however, they came back and were planning to once again settle here,” he says.
Peter, today, is a non-plussed husband, who maintains that he had no idea about his wife’s nefarious activities and that he genuinely believed that Sheena was, indeed, her sister. He even fell out with his son over when the latter suggested to him that there was something fishy.
