 "Murder most foul: Was Sheena Bora the daughter of Indrani Mukerjea?")
In what can only be termed a sensational twist in the 2012 Sheena Bora case, the Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested Indrani Mukerjea, the former chief executive officer of INX Media Ltd, and her driver Shyam Manav Manohar Rai. They are accused of murdering Bora, the sister of Mukerjea, and disposing of her body in Raigad district. The two have been arrested and charged under sections 302 (murder), 201 (disposing evidence or giving false statements), 363 (kidnapping) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
Mukerjea is the wife of former Star TV CEO Peter Mukherjea, one of India's most influential media executives.
A financial dispute is likely to be the motive behind the crime, police say.
Indrani and Shyam Rai were produced at Bandra Court on Tuesday where they were remanded in police custody until August 31. Police have told the court that they suspect “more people could be involved,” The Indian Express reported.
The Hindustan Times said that Indrani’s role in the murder came to the forefront after the police arrested Rai on August 21 and found an illegal weapon in his possession. Rai confessed to killing Sheena Bora during interrogation, the HT report added.
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One of Indrani’s relatives confirmed to The Telegraph that Sheena actually was Indrani’s daughter, whom she introduced Sheena to the society as her sister.
Indrani and Peter Mukerjea married in 2002, when she was an HR consultant and he was the CEO of Star India. But, according to The Telegraph report, Sheena and a younger boy were born to Indrani when she had a “relationship with a person who divided his time between Calcutta and Tripura”. Later, Indrani was married to a man who had businesses in Kolkata and Jamshedpur. The children eventually moved to Mumbai and Sheena moved in with the family. The family friend told The Telegraph that Sheena, who was known as Indrani’s sister, became close to Peter’s son from an earlier marriage.
Talking to news channel NDTV just a while back Peter Mukerjea said that he never took the rumours (that Sheena was his wife's daughter) seriously when he heard them four years ago. But he is shocked at the developments as this news is coming from credible sources, the police, he adds.
Meanwhile, a Tehelka report alleges the Mukerjeas had siphoned a huge sum of money from INX media and that part of this money had been transferred to their relatives.
Citing Mumbai Police sources, the report alleged that Sheena refused to transfer back money siphoned off by Indrani, to the couple and hence a bitter feud followed leading to the murder.
Peter and Indrani established INX Media in 2007 where Indrani was the CEO and Peter the chairman. They both quit INX Media in 2009.
Singapore-based company Temasek had invested in the Mukerjea’s media company and after the global recession, Temasek found huge irregularities after a company audit, the Tehelka report said.
Peter and Indrani had in 2007 established INX Media, where Indrani was the CEO and Peter the chairman. Both quit the company in 2009.