File photo of Peter and Indrani Mukerjea
Months after Sheena Bora's murder in 2012, her mother Indrani and step-father Peter Mukerjea went to the police to ask for her call records and establish an alibi, the CBI's investigations have revealed. Sources allege that the couple's motive was to convey that they believed Sheena was missing.
Peter Mukerjea was arrested last week, three months after the discovery of Sheena Bora's remains in a forest near Mumbai indicated that she had been killed. The TV tycoon's wife Indrani was arrested in August, days after the crime surfaced, for allegedly killing her 24-year-old daughter with help from her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyam Rai, who are also in jail.
The CBI or Central Bureau of Investigation believes Peter Mukerjea knew all along that Sheena Bora was dead. The INX founder knew she was missing yet did not file a complaint, the CBI alleges; the 59-year-old also allegedly misled his son Rahul, who tried to file a complaint, and told him he had spoken to Sheena Bora.
Rahul Mukerjea and Sheena Bora were engaged at the time she was murdered.
According to the CBI's charge-sheet, the Mukerjeas, to show that they were looking for a "missing" Sheena Bora, approached a senior police officer, Deven Bharti, who is now Joint Commissioner.
Indrani and Peter Mukerjea allegedly called Mr Bharti and claimed that they needed help to trace a relative who had been missing for days, and wanted her call records. They allegedly gave the officer her mobile number and asked for help to trace her location.
Mr Bharti has told the CBI that he assigned the case to an officer but the Mukerjeas told him that the missing person had been traced.
The CBI has quoted Mr Bharti as a witness in the charge-sheet.