Rahul Mukerjea, son of former media baron Peter Mukerjea, on Saturday said that charges against his father in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case were “outrageous”.
“Charges against him (Peter) are absolutely outrageous,” said Rahul as he emerged from the CBI office in South Mumbai this morning, where he spent last night after requesting the sleuths to let him do so.
Peter, husband of key accused Indrani Mukerjea, was on Thursday arrested by CBI, which thereafter filed its charge sheet in the case in a magistrate court in Mumbai.
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Peter is charged with murder and criminal conspiracy. He has also been accused of destroying evidence and lying to protect his wife Indrani.
Seeking Peter’s remand, CBI had told the court on Friday that he was allegedly involved in the conspiracy with his wife and had played an active and important role in the commission of the offence and also misled his son Rahul to hide the fact that Sheena was murdered.
Rahul, who was in a relationship with Sheena, had said on Friday that Peter’s arrest had come as a “shock” for him.
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“I don’t believe he knew (anything about the murder)...otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” he had told reporters outside the court.
The probe agency had also told the court that Peter was in continuous conversation with Indrani prior to, during and after the gruesome murder.
Suggesting a financial angle to the alleged murder of the 24-year-old in April 2012, the charge sheet said that fear of Sheena inheriting the entire property of her and her husband in the event of the victim’s marriage to Peter’s son Rahul was the prime motive for Indrani to do away with her daughter.
Indrani, who was said to have a soft corner for Vidhie, her daughter by former husband Sanjeev Khanna, feared that the entire property might go to Sheena and Rahul if they were married, the charge sheet said.
In this context, the charge sheet added, “She planned a conspiracy with Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai to kill Sheena Bora.”
CBI had submitted before court that Rahul and Sheena were about to get married and, “after that, she (Sheena) could have got a share of property”. The investigative agency added that they were “looking into this (angle).”
The probe agency told the court that Rahul had recorded his conversation with Peter in which his father told him that he has spoken to Sheena and she was in the US.
The magistrate court had on Friday remanded Peter to CBI custody till Monday (November 23) while transferring the case against Indrani, Khanna and Rai to the sessions court for trial, where jail officials were directed to produce the three on December 3.