Sheena Bora was allegedly murdered by her mother Indrani Mukerjea in 2012.
The Mumbai police team, investigating the mysterious Sheena Bora murder, have a lot to thank Ganesh Dhene, a village official in Pen tehsil of Raigad district, for helping them locate the spot where Sheena was allegedly buried in 2012.
A team of police, forensic experts and villagers had yesterday exhumed skeletal remains after Dhene identified the exact spot where Sheena's body was allegedly dumped in the forests there three years ago.
Early last morning, the team of police officials and forensic experts from Mumbai had reached Gagode Budruk village in Pen teshil and the digging had started around 6 am.
They learned of Police Patil Ganesh Dhene of Hetevne village, who was present when the body was found at the crime scene on May 23, 2012, and also when it was later buried there by the police the same day.
Dhene, who has been Police Patil since 2011, remembered that the body was buried near a mango tree in 2012, which helped identify the spot and led the team there. Around noon, having dug just a couple of feet into the ground, the team sighted a portion of the skeleton sticking out.
As per the Bombay Village Police Act, a Police Patil is directly subordinate to the Police department and the taluka magistrate.
In case a crime is committed in the limits of village, he makes immediate report to the police station and renders necessary help to the police officer to detect the offender.
After packing the skeletal remains in plastic bags, the team left for Mumbai at around 2 PM yesterday.
"We have recovered skeletal remains of Sheena Bora. We will be dispatching the remains for a DNA test," Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria had said yesterday. Sheena's mother, Indrani Mukherjee is believed to have killed her, allegedly by strangulating, with help from driver and ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna on April 24, 2012.
During interrogation, the driver had said that he had helped Indrani Mukerjea in disposing of the body by dumping it in the forests of Raigad district.