Son Rahul defends Peter in CBI court

MUMBAI: Rahul Mukerjea on Thursday deposed before the special CBI court in the Sheena Bora case and said his father, former media baron Peter Mukerjea, was innocent. “He would not be part of anything of this sort,” he said, referring to the alleged kidnapping and murder of Bora. “I believe my father was dragged into the case.”

Peter, his ex-wife Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver are facing trial for allegedly killing Bora, Indrani’s daughter from her earlier marriage, and disposing of the body in a forest in neighbouring Raigad district.

Rahul, who is currently being cross-examined by Indrani Mukerjea’s lawyer, Ranjit Sangle, on Thursday was posed questions about his equation with his father. Rahul replied that even after Peter Mukerjea’s arrest, he believed in the latter’s innocence. “I don’t believe he knew what was going on at that time,” Rahul said, adding, “Even today, I believe that my father is innocent and has been falsely dragged into the case.”

Sangle later asked Rahul if he was deposing in support of his father only because Peter was to sponsor his motorcycle cafe project in Goa. Rahul denied it and said it was an idea that had come up during discussions with his father a long time ago. On being asked if he would shift to Goa, where Peter lives now after being released on bail, Rahul said he had none.

Sangle questioned Rahul on the sequence of events on April 24, 2012, when Sheena went missing and was allegedly murdered by Indrani and Khanna in Indrani’s car driven by Shyamvar Rai. Rahul had claimed that when he was on his way to drop Sheena to Bandra, where she was to meet Indrani for dinner,

Indrani kept calling her to check where they were.

Sangle claimed that as per the Call Detail Record (CDR) which Rahul was allegedly shown first by the Khar police and later by the CBI, there were no entries of calls made by Indrani to Sheena. To this Rahul replied that he did not remember if he was shown the record but maintained that Indrani kept calling Sheena while they were on their way.

According to the police, Indrani and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna strangulated 25-year-old Sheena, Indrani’s daughter from her previous relationship, on April 24, 2012, in a car in Mumbai. The duo kept the body in the hood of Indrani’s car overnight and the following day disposed of it in a forest area in Gagode village.

The murder came to light after the Khar police arrested Shyamvar Rai, Indrani’s former driver, in another case in August 2015. Indrani was arrested on August 25, 2015 and Khanna was arrested the next day. Peter Mukerjea was arrested on November 19, 2015, after the case was transferred to the CBI.

Rai has become an approver in the Sheena Bora murder case, and the court has accordingly granted him pardon on the condition that he makes a full disclosure of all the relevant facts about the crime known to him.

PTI Peter Mukherjea