Almost three months after the CEO of INX Media Indrani Mukerjea was arrested by Khar Police over her alleged role in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012, the case has taken a new turn.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested former Star TV CEO and Indrani’s husband Peter Mukerjea on Thursday.
The arrest interestingly comes on the same day that the CBI filed its first charge sheet in the case.
24-year-old Sheena Bora, Indrani’s daughter, was allegedly murdered by her mother, Indrani's former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai in April 2012. Sheena’s body was dumped in a forest in the neighbouring Raigad district.
The chargesheet according to media reports contains statements of 150 witnesses, including seven recorded before a magistrate.
Peter’s claims
Peter Mukerjea has consistently claimed that he did not know Sheena was Indrani’s daughter and thought they were siblings.
The former Star TV CEO got married to Indrani Bora in 2002. Although they had an age gap of 16 years, Mukerjea had then famously recommended marriages in which both spouses already had kids. Indrani had a daughter from a previous marriage and Peter had two sons. But Peter claims he was never aware that Sheena and her brother Mikhail were Indrani’s children and they were introduced to them as her siblings.
He has also maintained that he believed Sheena Bora left to the United States as her parents were unhappy about her relationship with his son Rahul Mukerjea.
However, several friends of Sheena had told the media that it was common knowledge among them that Sheena was Indrani’s daughter, and it is difficult to believe that Peter did not know about it.
Further, in a spy-cam footage of Times Now, Rahul Mukherjea's maternal grandmother told the reporter that Peter was repeatedly told by both Rahul and Sheena herself that Sheena was Indrani's daughter, not sister.
Will the larger conspiracy now surface?
Initially the speculation was that personal reasons were the possible motive of Sheena’s murder due to the relationship between Sheena and Peter’s son from a previous marriage, Rahul Mukherja. Later, questions started emerging on why Peter’s version should be lapped up and whether Sheena was silenced to keep a financial fraud under wraps.
Tehelka had reported that a ‘Singapore based company Temasek invested in 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 off 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.’
Media reports then had claimed that this money was allegedly transferred to many beneficiaries in the family including Sheena, who had later refused to give it back. Other intriguing personal angles too had been reported, but none were confirmed by investigating authorities.