Mumbai police on Monday claimed a major breakthrough in the Sheena Bora murder case with forensic tests “conclusively proving” that the DNA samples of the skeletal remains exhumed from a Raigad forest matched those of her mother and main accused Indrani Mukerjea.
Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria on Monday night said the DNA report “conclusively proves” that Indrani Mukerjea was the mother of the “deceased Sheena Bora” and that interrogation of her husband and former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea was underway late at night.
“Today we have received the DNA report of Forensic Science Laboratory, and the DNA report states it is conclusively proven that the accused Indrani Mukerjea is biological mother of the deceased Sheena,” Maria told reporters.
Police had sent body remains -- purportedly of Sheena -- found in a forest in Pen tehsil of neighbouring Raigad district for DNA testing.
“Our team had taken the second accused (Sanjeev Khanna, Indrani’s former husband) to Kolkata. He led us to the spot where we recovered the shoes which were used by the accused (Sanjeev) when they (he and Indrani) went to dump the body at Pen. We have recovered part of jewellery of Sheena too,” Maria said.
Earlier in the day, Indrani and another accused, her former driver Shyam Rai, were remanded in judicial custody by a metropolitan court after their 14-day police remand ended.
“We have a team of forensic auditors, chartered accountants, income tax consultants and our officers of the Economic Offences Wing... this team has been working and studying various companies, investments, properties not only in India but also in UK and Spain, belonging to Mukerjeas as well as the companies owned by them.
“This team has been working for the last 10 days and we have written to these agencies to come and have a look at various financial papers, property papers that we have recovered from the accused,” the police commissioner said.
Interrogation of Peter Mukerjea was still on, the top cop added, briefing the reporters outside the Khar police station in the western suburbs of Mumbai.
Commissioner Maria and his deputy, joint commissioner of police (law and order) Deven Bharti reached the Khar police station on Monday evening where Peter Mukerjea had been summoned.
Peter, though not an accused, had been interrogated on three consecutive days last week.
Earlier in the day, the Bandra magistrate’s court remanded Indrani and her former driver Shyam Rai in judicial custody till September 21 after their police custody ended a fortnight after their arrest. The third accused in the case, her former husband Sanjeev, was taken to Kolkata for production before a court there.
The three have been arrested on the charges of murdering Sheena and disposing of the body in a Raigad forest in April 2012.
Police had last week claimed that Indrani had confessed to murdering Sheena and said financial transactions of the Mukerjea couple were being scrutinised closely.
