Peter Mukerjea quizzed for third consecutive day: Latest developments in the Sheena Bora murder case

With a next court hearing scheduled for Saturday, Mumbai police on Thursday were engaged in a multi-pronged probe to ascertain the motive behind the killing of Sheena Bora. A senior police officer as saying that Indrani had “confessed” to her role in the crime, without providing further details. However, IANS reported that Indrani’s lawyer had dismissed this, claiming Indrani was “very resolute that she would not admit to a crime which she had not committed”. [caption id=“attachment_2420864” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sheena Bora in a file photo. PTI[/caption] PTI on Friday reported that Indrani’s husband Peter Mukerjea was called in for a third round of questioning by the police_._ The police questioned Peter till late on Thursday night and he was back at the Khar Police station on Friday morning for further questioning. Police names Peter as key witness After interrogation, according to a report in The Hindustan Times, the police decided to name Peter Mukerjea as a key witness in the murder case. The report suggested that the police have said that the information provided by Peter may help them ascertain the motive behind the murder of Sheena. Some of the questions posed to Peter pertained to his financial transactions, especially his investments, his share in various companies, and how much money he had given to Indrani, son Rahul, step-daughter Sheena, and younger step-daughter Vidhie, who is Indrani’s daughter from her previous marriage. Vidhie Mukerjea, Siddharth Das questioned Besides Peter, his step-daughter Vidhie was also questioned by the police. Vidhie is the biological daughter of accused Indrani Mukerjea and Sanjev Khanna. She arrived about half-an-hour after Peter at the Khar Police Station, the police said. Sheena’s biological father Siddharth Das was also present at the station. Das reached the police station at around 12.30 pm, the police told PTI. Das was flown to Mumbai from Kolkata on Thursday evening and is understood to have been brought face-to-face with the accused. His statement has been recorded and his sample taken for DNA test. Rahul Mukerjea didn’t file missing persons’ complaint In another development in the case, the police has said that Rahul Mukerjea, Peter’s son who was also in a relationship with Sheena, may not have filed a missing complaint as he has claimed. The Indian Express reports, “The Mumbai Police probing Rahul Mukerjea’s claims of having approached two police stations have so far recorded statements of 15 policemen from the Worli police station who have refuted his claims.” Rahul had been grilled about his ‘relationship’ with Sheena and over the reasons for not pursuing the missing complaint about her. He was also taken to two flats in suburban Bandra and Khar where he had allegedly spent some time with Sheena when they were seeing each other, they said. Siddharth Das brought in for questioning Meanwhile, Siddharth Das, said to be Sheena Bora’s biological father, has been quizzed by Mumbai police and his statement recorded in connection with the her murder case. Das reached Khar police station at around 8 pm on Thursday to join the investigation and left at about 3 am on Friday morning, they said. Das was flown to Mumbai from Kolkata on Thursday evening and is understood to have been brought face-to-face with the accused. According to IANS, Das has admitted to having a relationship with Indrani and the fact that the two children — Sheena and her brother Mikhail Bora — were born out of wedlock. He has expressed willingness to cooperate with the investigation. Earlier, a police team had reached Das’s Kolkata home on Wednesday in order to bring him to Mumbai. His statement has been recorded and his sample taken for a DNA test. A senior police official told PTI that Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria is likely to brief the media soon on progress of investigation so far. The police custody of the three accused — Indrani Mukerjea, Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai - ends on Saturday. With inputs from agencies