What Nailed Peter: Indrani’s Revelation or Driver’s Testimony?
TV tycoon Peter Mukerjea was arrested in relation to the murder of Sheena Bora, daughter of Indrani Mukerjea.
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Former TV tycoon Peter Mukerjea, who projected his innocence in interviews, a couple of days after his wife Indrani Mukerjea was arrested for the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, was arrested on Thursday on the basis of revelations made by his wife who is the prime accused in the case.
Sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have revealed that Peter’s arrest follows information shared by Indrani with the investigating agency, who took over the case following a Maharashtra government notification in September.
It is not known yet what the “nature” of Indrani’s revelations – personal or financial – were, but the presence of Rahul Mukerjea, along with the arrested Peter, at the Colaba office of the CBI on Thursday night indicates a combination of the two.
Mumbai Police to CBI Transition
The Quint had, in the days following Indrani Mukerjea’s arrest on August 24, suggested that Peter be subjected to custodial interrogation by the Mumbai Police which was investigating Sheena Bora’s murder in earnest.
In one of its stories, The Quint had indicated that the Mumbai Police’s findings, about the time that the city’s police commissioner Rakesh Maria was suddenly divested of the responsibility of the case and “kicked upstairs” by way of a promotion, had led it to trace about Rs 1,400 crore that the Mukerjeas had stashed away in foreign and Indian banks.
But it is the presence of Rahul at the Colaba office of the CBI which is intriguing. If the case hinges on the financial motive – Sheena sitting on a few crores parked in her name in a bank, and making unreasonable monetary demands on Indrani – Rahul would certainly have been aware of them, to an extent. But then, these are issues which wouldn’t concern Peter. So what was it?
Personal Motive vs Financial Motive
Was there then a personal motive behind the murder, which was stronger than the financial one that led Indrani to conspire with her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamwar Rai to kill Sheena on April 24, 2012?
The CBI has filed a tome of a chargesheet but it has so far shied away from disclosing the motive behind the murder. Sources in Peter Mukerjea’s circle of friends, however, suggest that while the redoubtable Rakesh Maria pursued the murder case with gusto, one of the reasons why the then Mumbai Commissioner of Police was removed was the Union Home Ministry’s decision, based on inputs from the Maharashtra government, that the top cop was not above board.
While in judicial custody – and she still is – Indrani wrote four letters to Peter who replied to two of them. These were described as “personal” by Byculla jail authorities, though The Quint had reported at that time that that letters were laced with emotion. While prima facie innocent, the letters sent out feelers to Peter: if I sink, so will you.
Who Revealed Peter’s Part, Indrani or Rai?
The Quint has learnt that while the driver, Shyamwar Rai, was made to “confess” about Indrani’s role in the murder, he recently divulged information to the CBI which was in contrast to those he made before the Mumbai Police which had planted a pistol on him to secure his arrest and subsequently subjected him to “interrogation.”
Last month, Rai submitted an application to a Mumbai court, stating that he wanted to “reveal the truth” about the Sheena Bora murder case. Did Rai reveal damaging details to the CBI which the Mumbai Police chose to suppress?
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