Peter Mukerjea’s Polygraph Test Over; CBI Sniffs ‘Deception’

Peter was questioned about alleged siphoning off funds, Sheena’s overseas accounts and his conversations with Rahul.

Peter Mukerjea is escorted after being produced by the CBI at the Esplanade court in Mumbai. (Photo: PTI)

Former media baron Peter Mukerjea is undergoing a lie-detection test in Delhi at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in connection with the Sheena Bora murder case.

CBI sources said several questions about the crime, his conversations with his wife Indrani Mukerjea and his own statements were put to him during the test by CBI officials at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

The same sources said there were indications of “deception” in some of Peter’s answers. The agency has received the nod from a special court in Delhi to subject Peter to polygraph tests.

The agency will have to produce Peter before a special court in Mumbai on Monday. CBI has subjected Mukerjea to intense questioning since November 19 when he was taken into custody. The line of questioning ranged from alleged siphoning of funds from INX Media founded by him and Indrani, the overseas account of Sheena Bora, relations between family members, missing details of Sheena and his conversations with his son Rahul.

CBI sources claimed that, on many accounts, his answers were purportedly not convincing and changing which prompted CBI to put him to polygraph test.

According to the CBI, the couple’s company, 9X Media Pvt Ltd, carried out its internal audit, in which nine companies having shareholding as on March 2009 were found to have instances of misallocation and siphoning of substantial amounts of funds by Peter and Indrani.

The CBI, represented by Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, also told the court that the “money siphoned off from INX (in which Peter and Indrani were partners) dealings was routed to Sheena Bora’s HSBC account in Singapore.”

The reports of Serious Fraud Investigation Office and Income Tax and documents of chartered accountants substantiate the above facts, the CBI said while seeking Peter’s remand.