A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Tuesday gave its approval to the agency to issue Letters Rogatory (LRs) to three countries seeking information about the overseas transactions made by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea in connection with the Sheena Bora murder case.
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Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, and her driver Shyamvar Rai were arrested by the Mumbai Police last year in connection with Sheena’s murder in 2012. The case was subsequently handed over to the CBI, and the agency went on to arrest Peter, Indrani’s husband. All the four accused are currently in judicial custody.
The CBI is probing the transactions made by Peter and Indrani through their companies, in which money was allegedly routed through overseas accounts, including some accounts in Sheena’s name.
“We had applied for permission from the trial court to issue LRs to Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States of America, where Mukerjea’s company had its accounts, so that we could obtain specifics of the transactions. On Tuesday, we were granted permission by the court,” said a CBI officer.
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LRs are diplomatic tools that are invoked by law enforcement agencies when investigation of a case extends beyond the borders of the country. LRs and Mutual Legal Agreement Treaties are invoked when an agency needs information from foreign countries.
The officer said the LRs will now be sent to the Interpol and forwarded via diplomatic channels to all the three countries this week.
CBI officials said the routing of crores of rupees by the Mukerjeas through Sheena’s accounts was connected to the motive behind her murder, and hence the details of the transactions need to be obtained and examined.
“All relevant information we find about the transactions will be filed in court in the form of a supplementary charge sheet,” the officer added.
All the four
accused in the Sheena Bora murder case are currently
in judicial custody