Even as the CBI struggles to connect several glaring loose ends in the Sheena Bora murder case, the investigating agency is, strangely, disinclined to probe the role of a former Mumbai Police officer who may have played a central role in meticulously planning the murder (on 24 April 2012) and subsequently cooking up evidence against some of the accused persons.
While the CBI has itself to blame for relying on the so-called revelations of Indrani’s driver Shyamwar Rai, whose statement made under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code is full of gaping holes, if not inspired fiction, the agency’s inertia to act against this former cop, besides two other senior IPS officers, is baffling.
The senior police officers, who were deeply involved in the investigation following Rai’s arrest on 21 August last year (he disappeared on 19 August 2015), were allegedly party to the fabrication of evidence against Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and Rai. Besides, the junior of the two allegedly misrepresented and underplayed to the CBI his close association with the Mukerjeas.
CBI’s Suspicions
Although CBI investigators harbour strong suspicions over the former Mumbai Police officer’s role in the murder, it is holding itself back from proceeding against him for two reasons. First, the former officer’s proximity to a top Mumbai Police officer, whom he is suspected to have tipped off about the murder. And secondly, he has left little or no trace of strong evidence which could link him to the conspiracy to murder Sheena. The Quint is not revealing the identity of the officer for legal reasons.
Responding to The Quint’s questions on the role of the senior police officers and the former Mumbai Police officer, the CBI said in an email response that “Further investigation in the Sheena Bora Murder Case is continuing. It will not be possible to share more details at this stage.”
The officer quit the police force in May 2003 after
reaching the rank of assistant commissioner.
Phone Conversations
The former cop’s younger brother, who spoke with Indrani on at least two occasions on the day of the murder, was, curiously, not questioned by the CBI over the telephonic conversations. He was identified (in a TV interview a couple of days after Indrani’s’ arrest on 25 August, 2015) by Mikhail Bora as the person who came to the Mukerjeas’ Marlow apartment very late on the evening of 24 April, 2012, to collect a cheque from Indrani. The CBI has been loath to investigate why the cheque, for an unspecified amount, was given to the ex-cop’s brother who had previously worked as an IT manager in Indrani’s company, INX Services.
In his statement to the CBI on December 4, 2015, the ex-ACP’s younger brother chose not to disclose that at 7:24 pm on 24 April, 2012, Indrani called him and the conversation lasted 12 seconds. While at Taj Lands End hotel, Indrani called him again at 8:29 pm when they spoke for 33 seconds.
Surprisingly, the CBI’s investigation so far has not brought the brothers under intense scanner when most key elements of the planning of the murder and the subsequent disposal of Sheena’s body at Pen in Raigad district come tantalisingly close to linking the older of the two siblings.
Sleuths Remain Tight-Lipped
However, even as the CBI remains tight-lipped over the suspected involvement of this former Mumbai Police officer, the events before and after the murder indicate the hand of a “thorough planner” at work.
A former top Mumbai Police officer, under whom this ex-ACP had served for some years, said that the manner in which Sheena was murdered had this officer’s “signature”.
What the CBI has not been forthcoming with in its first chargesheet is why Indrani’s driver Shyamwar Rai visited a certain place in Lonavala, off the Pen-Khopoli Road, two days before Sheena’s body was allegedly burnt at Gagode Khurd in Pen. Who did he meet there?
Karjat Farmhouse
What is striking is the proximity of a sprawling farmhouse the ex-cop owns at Karjat, which is not very far from the spot where Sheena’s body was allegedly burnt by Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna and Rai close to dawn on 25 August, 2012. Equally intriguing is the “availability” of an “eyewitness” to the presence of Indrani, Khanna and Rai at the so-called spot where Sheena’s body was allegedly burnt. The “eyewitness”, identified as Sandeep Shantaram Patil, is – surprisingly – a resident of Rasayani village in Khalapur taluka close to Pen and Karjat.
Patil claimed in his statement that he saw the trio at 5 am on 25 April, 2012, at Gagode Khurd, standing by the side of the road. But the fact is that Indrani, Khanna and Rai left Marlow (according to the CBI) close to 5:00 am. It takes at least two hours to cover the 120-km distance between Mumbai and Pen.
A Cop as the Mastermind?
- CBI is hesitating to probe the role of a former Mumbai ACP who may have played a key role in planning Sheena Bora’s murder on April 24, 2012.
- CBI investigators disinclined to probe the role of former cop due while dragging its feet on inquiring the role of two senior IPS officers who acquiesced to fabricating evidence.
- In response to The Quint’s questions, CBI has responded by saying “futher investigations continue”.
- Former cop’s younger brother has not been questioned by the CBI on telephonic conversations with Indrani the day Sheena was murdered.
- Curiously, a farmhouse owned by the ex-cop is close to the spot in Pen district where Sheena’s body was burnt.
- Indrani’s driver Shyamwar Rai was employed by the ex-cop a few months after the murder.
Ex-Cop’s Statement
In his statement to the CBI, also taken on 4 December, 2015, the ex-ACP disclosed at length the process involving his employment with a TV channel. Like his brother, he chose to conceal the fact that he introduced Indrani to a Mumbai-based psychiatrist Yusuf Machiswala for treating Mikhail’s drug addiction. The ex-ACP would often accompany Mikhail to Machiswala’s clinic.
Interestingly, a few months after the murder, once Indrani had dismissed Rai from her services, she “requested” the ex-ACP’s younger brother “over phone to provide employment to Rai” who subsequently joined and served as a driver in one of the two security companies of the brothers till his (formal) arrest on August 21, 2015.
Murder Cover-Up
The tip-off the Mumbai Police received (said to be from the ex-ACP) before a team of trusted officers was brought together at Khar police station, Rai’s subsequent arrest, the Mumbai Police’s murder-in-the-car theory, which the CBI accepted in toto, though with a slight variation, while there is sufficient evidence to indicate that it might have happened elsewhere, the manner in which Sheena’s body was disposed of in Pen and the planting of evidence (three pairs of shoes, a gun etc) all point to a cover-up intended to shield the mastermind.
These apart, the CBI has maintained total silence on the suspicious role of the then Raigad Superintendent of Police R D Shinde and two other officers of Pen police station, including Inspector Suresh Mirge. Acting on Shinde’s instruction, Mirge is said to have filed a general diary entry but not a murder case when he came across Sheena’s skeletal remains on 23 May, 2012.
Documents available with The Quint show that even before speaking with Shinde, Mirge was disinclined to register a murder case. Sources, however, said that the Pen police simply did not stumble across the body, which lay in a spot at least 40-50 feet downslope, but were directed to it by “someone” who wanted it “discovered” on 23 May, 2012.
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