Sheena Bora case: Peter Mukerjea, husband of prime accused Indrani, arrested by CBI

Mumbai: Former media baron Peter Mukherjea was on Thursday arrested by the CBI in Mumbai in connection with the murder of Sheena Bora, daughter of his wife and prime accused Indrani who is already in the custody for the alleged crime.

Sheena was Indrani’s daughter from her first marriage.

CBI’s spokesperson said that Mukherjea’s name surfaced during its probe in the case and “he has been arrested”.

The spokesperson refused to divulge any further details in the case but sources in the probe agency alleged that he had some more insight in the crime which he had not share with the Mumbai police.

The CBI, which was handed over the case on 29 September after an apparent turf-war between the ousted Commissioner Rakesh Maria and the new incumbent Ahmed Javed, had questioned Mukherjea for hours before it was decided to place him under arrest, the sources said.

The decision to arrest Peter was taken in view of alleged inconsistencies in his statement before the CBI, the sources said.

Peter’s lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said he was surprised at the decision of CBI to place him under arrest. “I will be extremely shocked if the news about his arrest is true,” he said.

“I contacted him through messages and my last contact was well past 7.30 PM when he informed me that he was being questioned by the CBI and that he would contact me later,” he said.

The development came on a day when the CBI filed chargesheet in a Mumbai court in the Sheena Bora murder case. 24-year-old Sheena was allegedly murdered by her mother Indrani Mukerjea, Indrani’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai in Mumbai in April 2012 and her body was dumped in a forest in the neighbouring Raigad district.

Mukherjea had been questioned thrice earlier by the Mumbai police.

PTI