CBI files chargesheet against Peter Mukerjea

Mumbai: The CBI on Tuesday filed a supplementary charge-sheet against media baron Peter Mukerjea, which said that Peter and his wife Indrani were not happy with Sheena Bora and Rahul Mukherjea’s relationship.

The 59-year-old businessman was arrested on November 19, 2015, and hours after chargesheets were filed against his wife Indrani, her first husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai.

· The immediate reason for Director General Rakesh Maria’s transfer is believed to be the rigorous interrogation of the media baron and the current husband of Indrani, Peter Mukerjea, who was asked to appear before the investigating team for three consecutive days. Excerpts of emails exchanged between Sheena and her friend are also mentioned in the charge sheet.

The CBI also arrested Peter Mukerjea in November and on Tuesday formally added him to the same chargesheet after several months of questioning, according to a statement on its website.

As per the charge sheet, Peter not only knew Sheena was dead, he and Indrani spoke multiple times on the day of the cold-blooded murder of their daughter. In her first mail written on August 26, 2009, Sheena said that Indrani tried her level best to influence her higher-ups at her workplace to ensure that she loses her job.

Close to 32 witnesses have been mentioned, among whom the statements of the JCP (Law and Order), Mumbai, Deven Bharti and Inspector Alaakhmoore, the then in charge of the Anti Extortion Cell of the Mumbai, have been recorded. Two phone calls, one of 242 seconds and the other of 1,329 seconds, have featured on Indrani’s call data record and linked to Peter.

Peter was in CBI custody for about two weeks before he was shifted to judicial remand, and is now lodged at Arthur Road Jail; prime accused Indrani is lodged at Byculla Women’s Jail.

The charge sheet filed before Additional Metropolitan Magistrate R.V. Adone discloses that Sheena was given far less money compared to Indrani’s daughter Vidhie between 2005 and 2007.

Sheena (24) was allegedly strangled in a vehicle by Indrani on April 24, 2012; her body was later burnt and dumped in a forest in the adjoining Raigad district. Peter had approached Bharati soon after Sheena’s murder, saying she was missing, but came back the next day to say she was fine in the US.

Though the chargesheet didn’t point out particulars of the monetary transactions, CBI, which took over the probe from Mumbai Police late final yr, had earlier stated monetary transactions have been the motive behind Sheena’s murder.