Sheena Bora was strangulated, her body burnt with petrol: Mumbai police chief

Mumbai: Hours after Indrani Mukerjea’s ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna was arrested from Kolkata on Wednesday, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said that Sheena Bora was strangulated on April 24, 2012 and her body burnt with petrol.

Khanna, a resident of Hastings Road area in the southern part of the city, was arrested from his friend's flat in Alipore this afternoon for his alleged involvement in the murder of Bora in 2012, Kolkata Police Joint CP (Crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh said.

According to Kolkata Police officials, Khanna was grilled by a Mumbai police team for around two hours and on finding discrepancies in his replies, arrested him.

Read: Sheena Bora murder: Mumbai police arrests Indrani Mukerjea's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna

Khanna would be produced at Alipore court tomorrow for transit remand, Ghosh said.

"Mumbai Police were willing to take him away to Mumbai today but we insisted that they produce Khanna in a local court and seek his transit remand," Ghosh said.

Maria said, “Total three arrest has been made in the case. Indrani has confessed that Sheena was her daughter.”

Read: Wasn't aware Sheena was Indrani Mukerjea’s daughter: Peter Mukerjea

Wife of former STAR India chief Peter Mukerjea, Indrani, 43, was arrested Tuesday after a loyal family driver led the police to her, confessing that he had killed Sheena in 2012 at his employer’s bidding.

Sheena Bora’s body was dumped in the forests of Raigad, nearly 100 kilometres from Mumbai in 2012. The Raigad police had found the body then but could not establish its identity. The Mumbai police joined the dots this week before taking Indrani into custody.

Read: I believe my mother Indrani killed my sister, know exactly why, says son Mikael

It is alleged Indrani killed her daughter over a property dispute but police sources say she was unhappy over Sheena’s alleged affair with Rahul, Peter’s son by a previous marriage.

Sheena was 24 when she was murdered.

"There was no missing complaint registered with the police. The case has been registered on August 21,” Maria said.

Read: Sheena Bora murder: If Indrani doesn't confess, will expose real reason behind crime, says son

Sheena’s brother Mikhael told a television channel that Indrani was their biological mother. He said they were brought up by their maternal grandparents.

He added Sheena had many fights with their mother. “It can be biologically proved she is our mother. I want justice for Sheena,” Mikhael said.

Meanwhile, Peter Mukherjea said he was “dumbstruck and shocked” that the young woman his wife is accused of killing was not her sister but daughter.

"I never took the rumours (that Sheena was his wife's daughter) seriously when I heard them four years ago, but now it is coming from credible sources, the police," Peter Mukherjea said.

Read: Was Indrani Mukerjea a teenage mother?

Meanwhile, Indrani was produced before Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate court, which remanded her in police custody till August 31, DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said on Wednesday.

Maharashtra's Raigad police had found remains of Bora in a forest following which a murder case was registered against unidentified persons.

Indrani's driver, a co-accused who was picked by police few days ago in connection with the murder, too, was arrested on Tuesday.

During interrogation, the driver claimed that Indrani had killed Bora and that he had helped her dispose of the body by dumping it in the forests of Raigad district, an officer at Khar police station, who is part of the investigation team, said on condition of anonymity.

Read: Property dispute: Wife of ex-Star CEO Indrani Mukerjea arrested for sister’s murder

"The case is more than two years old. There is no DNA sample of the deceased or appropriate remains of the body. Police are relying on the co-accused's statement," the officer said.

Raigad police had come across an unidentified body in 2012, which they had disposed of without collecting DNA samples, he said.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria had interrogated Indrani at Khar police station yesterday. The officer said they would take the two accused to the spot where the body was dumped.