Sheena Bora Case: Accused Admits Mikhael Bora Also a Target, Say Sources

Mumbai: As sordid details emerge at a furious pace in the probe into Sheena Bora's murder case, her younger brother Mikhael Bora has, in a startling revelation, told the police that he was present in Mumbai on the day his sister was killed, according to sources.

Mr Bora, 24, had earlier said that he knew the "exact reason" of the crime and had promised to tell all on August 31 if his mother Indrani Mukerjea, a former media executive who was arrested for daughter Sheena's murder - failed to confess to the cops. He also said, "I am the next target".

According to sources, Indrani Mukerjea's former husband and one of the three accused in the murder, Sanjeev Khanna has confirmed Mr Bora's claims.  

Sources say that Mr Bora, who was brought to Mumbai from his hometown Guwahati, told interrogators that he was staying at the same hotel in Worli in south Mumbai as Mr Khanna on April 24, 2012, the day his sister was strangled before being set on fire. He claimed that his mother had called him to Mumbai to discuss financial matters, say sources. Mr Bora alleged that he was offered a drink laced with sedatives at the hotel. After he started feeling groggy, he told cops that he grew suspicious and managed to escape, say police sources.

Mr Bora, sources say, further told cops that he suspects that his mother and her alleged accomplice, Mr Khanna planned to kill him after bumping off his sister.

"We have questioned Mikhael Bora and he has given us some points and we are verifying it," Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said at a press conference on Friday evening, where he also said claimed that Sanjeev Khanna had confessed to "his complicity in the crime".

Sources have told NDTV that Ms Mukerjea got agitated when she was confronted with her son, Mikhael, during interrogation yesterday. She also claimed that her son was trying to extort money from her.

It is still not clear who the father of Ms Bora and her brother Mikhael is. The siblings were raised by their maternal grandparents in Guwahati. Ms Bora later moved to Mumbai to study and live with Ms Mukerjea and her husband and TV tycoon Peter Mukerjea, who was allegedly led to believe that the two were sisters until his wife's arrest earlier this week. Mikhael Bora has said that he has photos and phone conversations that offer vital information about the relationship of his sister with the Mukerjeas.