Mukerjea also accused of criminal conspiracy.
By Dileep Thekkethil
The controversial murder case of Sheena Bora took a sensational turn on Tuesday as the CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet in the court against media baron Peter Mukerjea, the husband of the prime accused Indrani Mukerjea, with charges ranging from murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
The central agency filed the supplementary charge sheet before Additional Metropolitan Magistrate R V Adone.
CBI had on November 19 arrested Peter Mukerjea after they found discrepancies in the statements provided by the media baron. The agency countered the bail plea of Peter saying that he is hiding behind incriminating evidence that will open doors to solving the mysterious murder case which rocked the country.
Peter Mukerjea’s bail plea was rejected by the CBI court which observed that the charge sheet was not yet filed and the investigating agency is still probing the facts. Following this, Peter, 59, was sent to Arthur Road prison in Mumbai whereas his wife Indrani is lodged in Byculla women’s jail.
Peter’s move to dissociate with wife Indrani, was looked upon as suspicious He had initiated the process to change the nominees of his premium life insurance policies from Indrani and Vidhie to his two sons Rahul and Rabin. The life insurance policies were bought from two private companies in Kolkata back in 2003.
Causing more doubts to the investigating agency, Peter also requested to change the bank accounts details to which the amount of the policies that he signed up with another insurer was supposed to be credited.
According to the CBI, Peter had no definite answer when asked about the source of money which he and his wife Indrani had invested in UK and India, which prompted the agency to ask for an extension to his detainment.
Case History
· The murder of Sheena Bora took place three years ago. Three people are accused of murdering Sheena by strangulating her, then cutting her into pieces, stocking it in a suitcase and later burning it in the forest to destroy evidence.
· Indrani is also facing a separate case for attempting to murder Mikhail Bora – Sheena’s sibling – by giving him spiked drinks. Mikhail had told media that he was fortunate to be alive as he left the place early on the fatal day his sister got murdered.
· The murder came to light when a former police officer overheard the driver of Indrani, Shyam Rai, talking about the murder to his friend in a bar and after which he was taken by the police officers to the secret burial site inside forest where the police unearthed skeletal remains.
· Mumbai police arrested the three accused who allegedly conspired against Sheena Bora, murdered her and later disposed of her body in a deserted forest area in Mumbai’s Raigad district.
· The investigation of the Mumbai police fell on rough terrain after Additional Director General Rakesh Maria left the investigation mid-way after he got a promotion transfer while the probe was at a crucial stage. Maria was criticized for taking a personal stand in the case, putting the accused and their family members through intense questioning.
· The immediate reason for Director General Rakesh Maria’s transfer is believed to be the rigorous interrogation of the media baron and the current husband of Indrani, Peter Mukerjea, who was asked to appear before the investigating team for three consecutive days.
· Later, CBI took over the probe from Mumbai Police late in 2015.
· CBI arrested media baron Peter Mukerjea, the husband of the main accused Indrani Mukerjea, in connection with the murder of his step-daughter.
· Bail plea of Peter Mukerjea was rejected by a special CBI court which observed that the charge sheet was yet to be filed and investigation in the matter was still on.
· The CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet in the court against Peter Mukerjea.