Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the special court hearing the Sheena Bora murder trial that it is unable to locate a CD containing the video recording of the body’s exhumation.
The lawyer representing prime accused Indrani Mukerjee, the victim’s mother, told Special Judge J.C. Jagdale that he can’t cross-examine Indrani’s driver Shyamvar Rai without viewing the CD. Mr. Rai, Indrani’s driver, was a co-accused in the case till he turned approver. The court is currently recording his statement.
Sheena Bora, 24, Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship, was killed in April 2012, but the murder came to light in August 2015 after Mr. Rai, arrested in an Arms Act case, alleged Indrani and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna had killed Sheena. The CBI, which took over the case, claims a financial dispute between the Mukerjeas and Sheena led to the murder.
Officers from Khar police station, where the offence was first registered, had earlier told the court that they had exhumed Sheena’s skeletal remains from a forest in Raigad district.
The police had also claimed that forensic tests had confirmed DNA samples taken from the exhumed remains matched those of Indrani and her son Mikhail Bora. On being instructed by the judge, defence lawyers and the CBI prosecutor went through several CDs but couldn’t find the one with the exhumation’s video recording. The court has now directed the CBI to find the CD with the investigating officer’s help.
The CBI handed over two CDs containing call records between Sheena, Indrani and Mr. Rai to Mr. Khanna’s lawyer Shreyansh Mithare. Mr. Khanna had applied for the call records six months ago, but his request had been denied by the CBI. The investigative agency also handed over two CDs of calls between Rahul Mukerjea, his father Peter Mukerjea and Indrani. The calls had been recorded by Rahul, who was in a relationship with Sheena, after she went missing.
The Special CBI court again rejected Peter’s application seeking the case diary from Khar police station for the Arms Act case in which Mr. Rai’s statement was recorded. The court also rejected the Bombay High Court’s direction on September 5 asking it to consider a fresh plea by Peter for the case diary. Peter’s lawyers had sought the case diary, in which probe details are recorded daily, and also the diaries maintained by individual investigators.
Meanwhile, officials from mobile service providers Reliance and Airtel told the court on Friday that some of the call data sought by the defence cannot be retrieved. The judge asked them to put this in writing.
While leaving the court, Indrani, who was barefoot and carrying fruit in a bag, told journalists she was fasting on the occasion of Navratri.
The trial will resume on September 26. — With PTI inputs
