Police grill Indrani, other accused in front of Mukherjea

Piecing together evidence on money transactions is key to zeroing in on murder motive.

Former Star India CEO Peter Mukherjea recorded his statement in the Sheena Bora murder case at the Khar police station here on Wednesday where his wife Indrani Mukherjea and her alleged accomplices were questioned in his presence.

Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, and driver Shyam Rai, are accused of murdering Sheena, Indrani’s daughter from a previous relationship, and attempting to murder Sheena’s brother Mikhail in 2012.

Sources claimed that in the interrogation session, which began at 10.45 a.m. and went on till 7.30 p.m., Mukherjea was questioned about the various financial transactions that he and his wife were involved in and the hostility and bitterness that had crept into the mother-daughter relationship in the months leading up to the murder.

Joint venture The couple had held key responsibilities and owned shares in their television venture INX from which they made an exit around the same time. Sources said that they were jointly questioned about the fundraising-to-sale of the whole venture and the amounts involved.

A police team also visited Mukherjea’s residence in Worli during the day and made seizures, property and financial transaction papers key among them, said a source.

With the case reaching what investigators called a “crucial stage”, piecing together these papers pertaining to money transactions is key to zeroing in on the motive for the murder, sources said.

Earlier, a senior police officer said that they were probing if Mukherjea had come to know about the murder much before everyone else did and had chosen not to disclose it.

In his media interviews following the revelation of the murder, Mukherjea first expressed shock about the incident and the fact that Sheena was the daughter of Indrani, his wife of 13 years. He later presented an altered version of this, saying that Sheena, whom he had always known as Indrani’s sister, had herself told him the truth, but that he had not believed her.

Suitcase vendor found In a separate development on Tuesday, a police team identified a street vendor from whom >Indrani and Rai had purchased two suitcases , one of which was allegedly used for disposing of Sheena’s body and the other suitcase to mete out the same treatment to her brother.

The police visited the Dadar shop after Rai revealed the place of purchase and the vendor reportedly identified him. According to the police, the two had purchased the suitcases for Rs.5,000.

The Mumbai police also spoke to the employees and owners of AM Motors about the car in which Sheena was allegedly murdered and her body subsequently taken to Raigad.