EX-STAR TV CEO’S WIFE IS HELD FOR SISTER’S MURDER
MUMBAI: Police arrested on Tuesday Indrani Mukherjea, founder of 9X Media and wife of former Star India CEO Peter Mukherjea, accusing her of murdering her sister three years ago and dumping the body in the ravines of Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
Mumbai Police officials took Mukherjea and her driver, 43-yearold Shyam Manav Manohar Rai, into custody saying a financial dispute was likely the motive behind the crime. Authorities picked up Rai on August 21 following a tipoff from an informer and found an illegal weapon in his possession. Officials said he confessed to killing Sheena Bora during interrogation. Suburban Khar police then called Indrani Mukherjea and arrested her following several hours of questioning.
A court remanded both accused in police custody till August 31, police spokesperson Dhananjay Kulkarni said. Asked for his side of the story, Peter said, “I don’t have a side….we understand that an FIR has been filed. Whatever cooperation that the police require from the family we will provide. We hope the whole issue would be resolved early.”
The case dates back to 2012 when Raigad police found the victim’s remains, following which a murder case was registered against unidentified people.
A police team from Mumbai recently went to the interior district and managed to recover some bones from the spot Rai showed them. Samples were sent for forensic tests, sources said.
Officials said while preliminary investigation points to a property or financial dispute as probable cause, they were exploring all leads.
Police sources said the process of recreating the sequence of events and finding corroborative evidence had been complicated by the fact that so much time had passed since the crime.
Khar police have formed a special team to investigate the case while officials have also gone to Kolkata to investigate some leads, sources said. There were unconfirmed reports that one person from Raigad area had been detained.
Indrani and Peter Mukherjea married in 2002 when she was an HR consultant and he was CEO of Star India.
They established 9X Media in 2007 — Indrani was the CEO and Peter the chairman. 9X Media was founded through two companies, INX Media Pvt Ltd and INX News Pvt Ltd. They both quit INX Media in 2009.