Impersonation, honour and blackmail: Various theories about Sheena Bora's murder

Ever since the arrest of former CEO of INX Media, Indrani Mukerjea, in connection with the alleged murder of her daughter Sheena Bora the theories regarding the case have only gotten murkier. Here’s a roundup of all the theories doing the rounds presently: Who strangled Sheena: Sanjeev Khanna or Indrani? Perhaps the biggest twist in the case of Sheena Bora’s murder was the arrest of Sanjeev Khanna in Kolkata. A police official told the Telegraph that Indrani had said that Sanjeev was in the car at the time of the murder.  But Mumbai Police commissioner Rakesh Maria claimed that Sheena had been strangled by her step father and then the body was disposed off. [caption id=“attachment_2410066” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Indrani Mukerjea. Image courtesy: Facebook[/caption] “The victim (Sheena) was strangulated by her step-father and mother and her body was set ablaze using petrol in a forest in Pen taluka,” he said. However, he refused to disclose the reason for the murder. Other reports have claimed that Indrani strangled her while Khanna and the driver, Shyam Rai, held her. They then took her to Raigad where the body was burnt. Motive for the murder: Money or relationship?  While son Mikhail has claimed to know the reason for the murder and refused to reveal it, the police has said that the reason for the murder could be a combination of monetary  and family factors. “Although the motive behind the murder still remains a mystery, we are probing all the angles as we strongly suspect honour killing in this case,” a police inspector told PTI. A Telegraph report, said that Indrani was incensed by the relationship between Rahul Mukerjea and Sheena. But friends of the slain woman say that Indrani had given a huge amount of money to her and then wanted it back. The Times of India reports that Indrani had serious problems with the relationship between Sheena and Rahul, and the fact that they wanted to get married. The Indian Express  reported that Sanjeev had planned the murder to ensure his daughter with Indrani did not lose out on her inheritance with Sheena possibly marrying Rahul. Indrani and Sanjeev have a daughter, Vidhie, who has been legally adopted by Peter Mukerjea. The report said that gains from the INX Media sale were to go to Sheena from Indrani and Sanjeev didn’t want his daughter to lose out. After killing Sheena, Indrani was even planning to kill her son Mikhail who was living with her parents in Guwahati, police officials told the Times of India. The police say that Sanjeev wanted to ensure that Indrani’s property in Guwahati went to his daughter as well. They are also probing whether Sheena and Mikhail were blackmailing Indrani over her hiding the fact that they were her children. A _Tehelka_ article which has since been pulled down had claimed that the Mukerjeas had siphoned off funds to their relatives, one of whom was Sheena. Did Indrani pretend to be Sheena and even break up relationship with stepson? According to an Indian Express report, the police has alleged that after murdering her daughter, Indrani even pretended to be her so as to prevent any questions about her whereabouts. She even allegedly broke up with Mukerjea’s son Rahul over the phone pretending to be Sheena. The report said that Indrani used Sheena’s phone for a year after she had died and had call records and cell tower records that showed location matches. Indrani allegedly told other family members that Sheena had gone to the United Kingdom to pursue studies and even visited the country thrice between 2012 and 2015 to keep up the appearance. An unnamed police official was also quoted as saying that Indrani had used her cell phone “to communicate with her friends” and even to break off the relationship with Rahul Mukerjea. Indrani’s son Mikhail had also alleged that his mother had kept him in the dark about his sister’s whereabouts.  He 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 Times Now. Bora told CNN-IBN that he had asked a friend of Sheena’s for some way to get in touch with her, but was told that she wasn’t in the US. He said that when he asked Indrani for some means to get in touch with her, he was told by Indrani had settled down and didn’t want to get in touch with him. Peter Mukerjea had also told channels on Wednesday that his son had told him that Sheena was Indrani’s daughter but he hadn’t believed him and had lost touch with him for three years. Rahul was questioned by the Mumbai Police on Wednesday but refused to comment on the case.