Sheena Bora Murder: More Inconsistencies in CBI Narrative Emerge

CBI’s chargesheet in Sheena case is replete with inconsistencies that misrepresent the facts, writes Chandan Nandy.

In probing the Sheena Bora murder case, the CBI appears to have resorted to falsifying and misrepresenting facts, a careful reading of the second supplementary chargesheet submitted to a Mumbai court on Friday by the agency reveals.

The CBI’s supplementary chargesheet, which relies heavily on the “statement” made by Sheena’s brother Mikhail, who benefited the most from his sister’s murder, claims that he reached Mumbai at 8:30 pm on 24 April, 2012, less than two hours before the 24-year-old girl was murdered in Pali Hill by her mother Indrani Mukerjea, driver Shyamwar Rai and Sanjeev Khanna.

Also Read: Sheena Murder: Driver Rai’s Inconsistent Story Similar to CBI’s

Facts Ignored

The first supplementary chargesheet was submitted in court on 19 November, 2015, when Peter Mukerjea was arrested by the CBI. The main chargesheet against Indrani, her former husband Khanna and Rai was filed in October last year after the agency took over the case from Mumbai Police on 18 September, 2015.

According to the CBI, Sheena was murdered between 6:30 and 7:30 pm, a time which The Quint has earlier shown to be improbable for the girl to have been killed by three persons inside a vehicle, especially when Khanna had not even moved out of the room in Worli’s Hilltop Hotel where he had checked in around 6:05 pm.

The CBI has completely bypassed the role that a former Mumbai Police officer may have played in planning Sheena’s murder, the disposal of her body and the subsequent cover-up, besides the sudden discovery of the body on 23 May, 2012, in Gagode Khurd in Pen taluka of Raigad district.

Also Read: Mumbai Police Ex-ACP May Have Played a Role in Sheena Bora Murder

Glaring Loopholes

Following are some of the major misrepresentations made by the CBI in its second supplementary chargesheet:

1) The CBI claims that Mikhail, who purchased air tickets after borrowing money from an ex-girlfriend, landed at Mumbai airport at 8:30 pm on 24 April, 2012. But call data record (CDR) details of Indrani and Rai indicate that Mikhail reached Mumbai in the afternoon that day.

2) The CBI says Mikhail “told the maid that he was brother of madam” after he “collected keys from guard room as instructed by Indrani Mukerjea and entered flat No. 18 (at Marlow)”.

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But at least two other witnesses, including Indrani’s private secretary Kajal Sharma (the other being Pradeep Waghmare), have said in their statements to the CBI that Indrani had given three-day (23-25 April, 2012) leave to her maid Mala.

Mismatch in CBI’s Claims

3) The CBI says that after Indrani reached the Marlow apartment (No. 19), she offered Mikhail an alcoholic drink. In its main chargesheet, however, the CBI had claimed that Indrani purchased two bottles of vodka and whiskey on the morning of 24 April, 2012 in anticipation of Mikhail’s early arrival, and left them on a table in the apartment before leaving with Rai to murder Sheena.

4) The CBI claims that “Sanjeev Khanna was introduced to Mikhail as her client. On instructions of Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna picked up Mikhail from hotel took him to disco pub. Sanjeev Khanna took whiskey and offered drinks to Mikhail. Sanjeev Khanna suggested to him to try tequila and ordered one for Mikhail. Mikhail, after having few drinks, lost control and became unconscious.

“When Mekhail regained his senses on second day morning, he found himself in a locked room with his hands tied together. His hair were cut and he was wearing chocolate colour clothes. When Mikhail started shouting, he was given injection which made him unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, he discovered that he was in drug De-addiction Centre (Masina) Hospital belonging to Dr Matchiswala. Indrani had got Mikhail admitted there for medication on the pretext that he was taking drugs.”

Not only does the CBI not mention the date when Khanna took Mikhail to a “disco pub”, the agency suppresses the fact that it was former Mumbai Police assistant inspector Sohail Buddha, who took him to drug rehabilitation and de-addiction centre at Masina Hospital (Mumbai) run by Dr Yusuf Matchiswala.

Also Read: Sheena Murder: Driver Rai Has Wilfully Lied in Sworn Confession

Contradictions in Probe

5) The CBI says that “further investigation has disclosed that accused Sanjeev Khanna arrived at Mumbai airport on 24.4.12 and left for Hilltop (Hotel). After arrival at Hotel Hilltop, Worli, Mumbai, at around 1805 hrs, accused Sanjeev Khanna left the hotel immediately and was not available there for the next few hours.”

But hotel records and statements of Hilltop employees clearly prove that Khanna ordered dinner at 9:36 pm on 24 April, 2012. Dinner was served around 10 pm. He left for Marlow after around 10:30 that night after receiving a phone call from Indrani. The Quint’s investigations suggest that Khanna had not met or seen Mikhail before.

6) The CBI claims that “while leaving the house (Marlow apartment in the wee hours of 25 April, 2012), Indrani asked Mikhail Bora not to bolt the door from inside as it would unnecessarily disturb his sleep. Mikhail Bora became frightened and bolted the door after she left.”

This is a blatant misrepresentation of the CBI’s earlier investigation, according to which Mikhail was drunk and took a shower before he left the apartment around 5 am on 25 April, 2012, when he found that the door was not bolted.

Mikhail’s Messages Not Taken Into Account

7) What makes the CBI’s claims muddled and therefore suspicious is that they do not take into account the threatening emails and text messages that Mikhail sent to Indrani days after Sheena was murdered. In these messages, Mikhail appears to know that Sheena had been murdered and he was aware of what happened on 24 April, 2012.

Over the past few months the CBI has time and again taken the specious plea that “investigations continue” in the Sheena Bora murder case, but has not come up with any fresh leads or startling information that could establish the real motive behind the killing.

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