Sheena Murder EXCLUSIVE: An Affair Ignored, Did Cops Shield Peter?
Top Maha govt sources confirm TheQuint’s story. Sheena’s affair with a man “close” to Indrani - the key murder motive
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‘Sheena’s Affair Not Pursued By Mumbai Police’ - Top Maharashtra Govt Official
A day after the Maharashtra government handed over the Sheena Bora murder case for investigation by the CBI, a top state administration official confirmed to The Quint that an affair between a person very close to Indrani Mukerjea and her daughter is the real motive behind killing the girl in April 2012.
The officer, who was deeply involved with the investigation, told The Quint that “you are on the right track” as far as the motive for the murder is concerned.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Mumbai police sought not to pursue the “personal angle”.
He told The Quint that this revelation at an early stage of the probe “could have led to the custodial interrogation of the man close to Indrani Mukerjea.”
Ahmad Javed’s Status Report Suggests ‘Personal Angle’ Was The Key Motive
Government sources have also confirmed to The Quint that the status report of the case prepared by Ahmed Javed, who replaced Rakesh Maria as Mumbai Police Commissioner on September 8, contains sufficient information to suggest that the personal motive played the key part in Sheena Bora’s murder.
Since August 27, two days after Indrani was arrested from her Marlowe residence on Worli’s Pochkhanwala Road, The Quint has been consistently reporting that an affair between a man “very close” to Indrani and Sheena Bora, which got exposed, was the most proximate motive for Indrani to allegedly take her daughter’s life.
Mikhail’s Photo Evidence Reflects ‘Nature’ of Sheena’s Affair
The senior Maharashtra state government official has also disclosed to The Quint that the investigators, including senior officers, “were fully aware” of the affair which began sometime in 2010.
The official believes that the discovery of this ‘personal motive’ and the linkages that it suggested, may have kept Maria’s crack investigation team from seeing the case to its logical conclusion.
Most significantly, this official has admitted to The Quint that the photographs shared by Mikhail Bora with the police reflect the nature of the affair between Sheena and the individual “very close” to Indrani.
Did a Senior Maharashtra IPS Officer Lean on Raigad SP?
He revealed that a separate inquiry against RD Shinde, who was Raigad Superintendent of Police at the time the remains of a woman were found in Gagode village of Pen taluka on May 23, 2012, has also thrown up “intriguing” questions.
The Quint has been told that officials conducting the probe, are trying to ascertain whether any senior Maharashtra cadre IPS officer sought to influence RD Shinde into taking no police action on the body.
Investigations into the Sheena Bora murder case have thrown up several twists and turns, including suggestions that the crime was the outcome of certain questionable financial transactions conducted by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea.
But the senior Maharashtra government official has told The Quint that the financial angle – the so-called bank account in Sheena’s name where a substantial amount of money was reportedly parked – is now being seen as a red-herring to distract investigators from the real motive.
The Financial Angle - A Red Herring
Was this financial angle planted on the media by police officers to take the focus away from the personal motive?
This seems to be the case because state Additional Chief Secretary (Home) KP Bakshi said on September 18, when it was declared that the CBI would investigate the murder case, that the financial angle would also be probed by central agencies (Enforcement Directorate) to examine whether it was a motive for the murder.
‘Protecting’ Peter, Probe ‘Compromised’
Suggesting that the investigation was “compromised” because of a tendency on the part of certain senior officers to be protective about Peter Mukerjea, the official admitted that piecing together all available evidence, and digging up more, would be challenging for the CBI.
The Big 2010 Mukerjea Family Row
Meanwhile, other sources close to the Mukerjea family have told The Quint that at some point in 2010, Indrani, Peter and Sheena had a major row at the Mukerjeas’ Marlowe residence over the issue of the exact nature of the relationship between Indrani and Sheena. At that time, Sheena is understood to have told Peter that she was Indrani’s daughter and not sister.
Not long after Indrani’s arrest, Peter Mukerjea had claimed in an interview to a TV news channel that he had always been under the impression that Sheena was Indrani’s sister.
Following the altercation between the three, Indrani is said to have told Sheena to leave the house. Till that point in time Sheena had lived with the Mukerjeas, since her arrival in Mumbai. Sheena subsequently took up lodgings as a paying guest in the Khar area of Mumbai.
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