In one of the high profile Sheena Bora murder case which took place almost three years back, the accused Indrani Mukerjea, wife of former Star TV CEO Peter Mukherjea and Sister in Law of Goa based publisher Gautam Mukerjea (who is owner and editor of Planet Goa magazine) was arrested by the Mumbai police on Tuesday night from her residence in Bandra. According to the available information from various local as well national media Indrani Mukerjea was arrested by the Mumbai police on Tuesday in connection with the murder her daughter Sheena Bora whose body was found in the jungle of Raigad in year 2012 in highly decomposed situation which Raigad police supposedly disposed off without keeping any DNA samples.
The case came into the light when the driver of Indrani Mukherjea confessed in front the Mumbai police of murdering the Sheena Bora on the orders of his employer Indrani Mukherjea. There are conflicting reports about the driver’s account which claims that Indrani had killed Bora and that he had just helped her in disposing the body by dumping it in the forests of Raigad district. The report attributes the quote to an officer at Khar police station, who is part of the investigation team. “The case being more than two years old, where there isn’t any DNA sample of the deceased or appropriate remains of the body, police are only relying on co-accused’s statement,” the officer said.
Meanwhile Indrani has been produced before the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate who remanded her in police custody till August 31 said the DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni. According to the CNN-IBN Channel report, the police has reached the doors of Perter Mukherjea too for questioning him on this issue on Wednesday while the ex-husband of Indrani from Kolkata is also put under arrest by the police and Indrani’s chauffeur, 43-year-old Shyam Rai, too has been placed under custody. Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria had interrogated Indrani at Khar police station on Tuesday. The officer said they would take the two accused to the spot where the body was dumped.
According to the police the ex-husband of Indrani Mukherjea is also the prime accused in this case beside the driver Shyam Rai and Indrani herself. According to the police investigation report the murder was done by strangulating Sheena followed by burning of her body by pouring petrol. The murder took place on April 24, 2012 and the body was found by Raigad police on May 23.
According to the reports the murder took place amidst of illicit relationship between Sheena Bora and Peter Mukherjea’s son Rahul through his earlier marriage, they have been dating each other and Indrani had opposed to it. Peter looked shocked and devastated with this news; according to him this news came as a big shock to him he told the media. “I don’t understand at all with regard to my wife… Sheena Bora is her sister, I believed all these years, and now I am being told that she was her daughter. The one I thought was her brother is now her son from an earlier marriage, which I was not aware of. I was aware of one marriage and not so many others. So, now there are number of things that are appearing to me which are completely new to me,” he said. He assured his complete cooperation in the police investigation “I have never experienced anything like this before. The news I am getting, the kind of crime that has been committed, I would have never expected. Whatever help, information, police need, I am happy to help them with that. I would be absolutely clear and straight with them and cooperate,” he said.
Gautam Mukherjea, the owner of Planet Goa magazine, presently based in Goa is also summoned by the Mumbai police in connection of this case. When media tried to get in touch with Gautam over this issue he said, “I am shocked and numb. I just took the first flight out and I’m with Peter to hold his hand. The poor fellow is completely dazed and so am I.” he said. When asked about the relationship between Indrani and Sheena Gautam said “We always knew and were introduced to Sheena as her sister and in 2012 we were told that she has gone abroad.” Denying television reports that he too has been summoned for questioning by the Mumbai Police and there are allegations that some funds from the NewsX channel were transferred to his account he said, “I have not been summoned but will do whatever I’m asked to. No funds were transferred to my account except for my salary because I had a professional association.”
According to the reports, Indrani always introduced the Sheena Bora as her sister but her relatives have confirmed that Sheena was her daughter and Indrani too confessed before the police that Sheena was her Daughter from her previous husband. The accused also has a son from a “relationship with a person who divided his time between Calcutta and Tripura”.
According to the reports published by The Telegraph “Sheena and her brother, who works in an airline now, were brought up by their maternal grandparents in Guwahati. The children eventually moved to Mumbai and Sheena did her graduation from St. Xavier’s College there. After Indrani married Peter, who made a name for himself at the helm of STAR India and during whose tenure the blockbuster Kaun Banega Crorepati was launched, Sheena moved in with the family. The family friend said Sheena, who was known as Indrani’s sister, became close to Peter’s son from an earlier marriage. It is not clear whether the alleged relationship played any role in Sheena’s death.”
Meanwhile Indrani’s son Michail Bora told the news media channel that Indrani is their mother and he also confirmed that Sheena and Indrani had conflicts on many things however he did not disclosed much on it but he said “I want her to reveal everything herself… After 31 September when I come to know that she has admitted everything. If she lies, I will give all evidence. I have all the evidence and photos. I will provide it to the media.”
Mikhail further revealed that he and his sister Sheena had been living with their grandparents in Guwahati and his mother Indrani had been living in Mumbai. He said that Sheena had gone to Mumbai to study in St Xavier’s college after which she had been working in Mumbai. “In 2012 she came here for a wedding of her friend. After that she has no contact,” he said. Mikhail said that he had always asked his mother where his elder sister was but had received vague answers. “She always replied she was abroad. She said she (Sheena) had got a job there,” he told the channel. He said that he had stopped asking questions about Sheena since he was dependent on funds from Indrani to take care of his ailing grandparents and she had threatened to cut him off.
According to the reports published by India’s premier news channel Tehalka suggests that that it may not have been Bora getting involved with her stepson which may have enraged Indrani enough to have Sheena killed. It may have got to do with something bigger than that – and what’s bigger motive for murder than money? According toTehelka, the Mukerjeas had siphoned a lot of money from INX media, a company they later stepped down from. To avoid suspicion, a lot of this money had been transferred to their relatives’ accounts. One of those accounts may have belonged to Sheena Bora, who later refused to return the money.
Tehelka also revealed that “Singapore based company Temasek invested in the the media company of the Mukherjea’s and after the global recession, Temasek got the media company audited. It was found out during this audit that Peter and Indrani had siphoned of huge sums of money from the company in the name of various family members, including Peter’s brother Gautam Mukherjea who brings out the magazine Planet Goa.”
This case shows how the relationships and money matters can go to the extent of provoking a mother to kill her own daughter. We have always heard that corporate world is very cruel and relationship in high places does not hold much substance but this is the real case study of the same. Here in this murder case there are many angles, one which takes you towards the illicit relationships while other takes you towards the money laundering business but only one thing comes out of the entire story is the lack of ethics and moral values. Let’s see how many skeletons will come out of the closet in this case. We will come back to you with more updates on this murder mystery soon, till then please do leave your comments and suggestions on this issue.
Source: Various Sources
Edited By: Goa Prism News Desk
