Indrani Mukerjea 'Hard Nut to Crack', Not Cooperating, Says Government Lawyer

Mumbai:

Former television executive Indrani Mukerjea, who is accused of killing her daughter Sheena Bora, is not cooperating with investigators and was a "hard nut to crack", the government lawyer told a Mumbai court on Saturday. Sources in the Mumbai Police have said that a fourth person could have been involved in the alleged murder.

Ms Mukerjea was produced in court on Saturday afternoon, and remained calm and composed through the hearing. Policemen formed barricades inside the court room to keep the crowd in check.

"The scope of probe is large and the accused is a hard nut to crack. They have used modern tools like email and Internet to plan the murder. The progress shown in investigation is already on record and the police have not wasted a single day," said Special Public Prosecutor Vaibhav Bagade.

Requesting the court to extend Ms Mukerjea's police custody, he said, "It may appear filmy but we need to find out why this particular place was chosen to dump the body. Her custody is for a short period considering the vastness of investigation. We need to know who else helped her and her emails need to be studied." He added that investigators required more time to probe payments made by Ms Mukerjea and her co-accused former husband Sanjeev Khanna through different bank accounts and to recover her credit card.

The court extended Ms Mukerjea's custody until Monday.

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Sources in the Mumbai Police said they are looking at the possibility of a fourth person being involved in the case, and that this person could have a Kolkata connection. Police sources also said the plan to kill Mekhail, Sheena Bora's brother, was hatched in Kolkata.

Meanwhile, Ms Mukerjea's lawyer, Gunjan Mangla, accused the police of conducting a media trial, and claimed there was no basis to the police assertion that Ms Mukerjea could tamper with evidence. "Police are trying to get statements out of the accused. They are manipulating the whole thing. She is not a hardened criminal," said Ms Mangla.

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Earlier in the day, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Julio Rebeiro criticised the media coverage of the case, and asked the Bombay High Court to issue a notice to all TV channels over the way the case is being covered.

"The course of justice has to be decided by investigators, prosecution and judges. Channels are taking over the role of police, prosecutor and judges. That is perversion of justice... The case cannot be decided by channels, and there has to be a fair trial," Mr Ribeiro told NDTV.