Sheena Bora murder: CBI begins arguments, claims Indrani Mukerjea wanted property

The Sheena Bora murder story has captured the national imagination like no other. It has intrigue, suspense, drama and money. After Sheena Bora went missing in 2012, the case gained prominence only in 2015. On Monday, the Central Bureau of Investigation re-opened the murder case in the special CBI court arguing on the draft charges it had filed against all the accussed. According to a report in DNA, the CBI has claimed to have enough evidence to prove “charges of murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and forgery against all four arrested accused in the murder case.” [caption id=“attachment_2417448” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Indrani Mukerjea and Sheena Bora. Image courtesy: Facebook[/caption] A Mid Day report detailed CBI prosecutor Bharat Badami as saying that one of the main reasons behind the murder of Sheena was property. “Indrani thought that if Sheena got married to Rahul, then the entire property would go to them as Peter was very fond of his son,” Badami is quoted in Mid Day. Free Press Journal reported that Badami painted the relationship between Vidhi, Sheena and Indrani as contentious — “love-hate” relationship. Badami also said that Indrani wanted to kill Sheena because she was in a relationship with Peter’s son Rahul. Indrani, her former driver Shyam Rai (who has now turned approver in the case) and Khanna had allegedly strangled Sheena, Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship, inside a car in April 2012. The trio were arrested in August last year, while Peter was arrested in November. According to CBI, Peter was part of the murder conspiracy. Sheena’s body was found in a forest in Raigad. The crime, which came to light in August last year, is allegedly linked to certain financial dealings. The opening of arguments comes after a considerable amount of delay . The special court had directed CBI to begin arguments on framing of charges in the Sheena Bora murder case and make their opening statement from the next date of hearing scheduled in September. “Prosecutor can argue on framing of charges provided the interest of defence is safeguarded. I will expedite the trial,” special CBI judge HS Mahajan had said. Earlier, special public prosecutors Bharat Badami and Kavita Patil told the court that the prosecution is ready to open the case in support of framing of charges. “We are ready to start the trial,” they had said. CBI chargesheet  The chargesheet filed by the CBI in October also confirms property angle in the murder.  Sheena (24) was strangled in a car in Mumbai on April 2012 allegedly by her mother Indrani Mukerjea, Indrani’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai. Sheena’s body was then dumped in a forest in neighbouring Raigad district. There had been two charge sheets filed in the case so far. According to the first charge sheet filed on 19 November last year, the CBI had named Indrani, Khanna, and Rai as accused in the case. The trio was arrested in August last year after Rai spilled the beans while he was being interrogated in a case pertaining to illegal possession of arms. Rai later turned approver in the case. According to investigators, Sheena’s relationship with Rahul, son of Indrani’s current husband and former media baron Peter Mukerjea, was the possible motive behind her murder apart from certain financial dealings. The second charge sheet was filed on 16 February against Peter for his alleged role in the murder plot. He was arrested on 19 November last year. The agency had stated Sheena was killed as her relationship with Rahul was disapproved by Peter and Indrani both of whom were part of the plot to murder her. However, Peter had denied the allegations. He had cited his emails to prove that he was never against the relationship. With inputs from agencies