Sheena Bora murder case

Sheena Bora, an executive working for Mumbai Metro One based in Mumbai,^[4] went missing on April 24, 2012. In August 2015 Mumbai Police arrested her mother Indrani Mukerjea, her stepfather Sanjeev Khanna, and her mother's driver, Shyamvar Pinturam Rai, for allegedly abducting and killing her and subsequently burning her corpse.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Khanna and Rai confessed to the crime, and Mukerjea has said that Sheena Bora is living in the United States.^[10][11][12]

Early life, family history and personal life

Sheena Das Bora and brother Mikhail were born to Pori Bora (later known as Indrani Mukerjea), an Indian HR consultant and media executive, and Siddhartha Das in 1987 in Shillong, Meghalaya.^[1] Indrani left the children under the care of her parents in Guwahati and moved to Kolkata. There she studied computers and stayed as a paying guest.^[13] Sheena and her brother were subsequently raised in the city of Guwahati by their maternal grandparents.

In Kolkata, Indrani married Sanjeev Khanna and the couple had a daughter. They divorced in 2002, and Indrani married Peter Mukerjea.^[5]

When Sheena Bora learned about her mother and moved to Mumbai in 2006, Indrani introduced her as her younger sister.^[14][15] Sheena was admitted to St. Xavier's College where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (2006-2009). In 2009, she joined Reliance Infrastructure as a management trainee. In June 2011, Sheena joined Mumbai Metro One as an assistant manager.^[16][17][18]

Disappearance

On 24 April 2012, Sheena took a leave of absence and "sent in her written resignation".^[18] On the same day, Rahul Mukerjea (Sheena's step-brother who she was dating) received a breakup SMS from Sheena's phone.^[19] Her mother, Indrani, said that Sheena had gone to the United States for higher studies and hence a missing First Information Report was never filed.^[6][20][21] Sheena was never seen after April 24, 2012.

On Rahul's insistence, police visited Indrani's Worli residence where they were informed by the staff that Indrani was out of India. Upon her return, Indrani visited the Worli police station and informed the police that Rahul was trying to stalk Sheena and that was why Sheena had moved to the United States without informing him.^[22]

On May 23, 2012, local police in Pen tehsil, Raigad, found a body after villagers complained of a foul odor. No identification was made and the remains were sent to JJ Hospital in Mumbai. No link was made with the Sheena Bora case.

Discovery of death of Sheena Bora and subsequent investigation

Four months before her arrest, Mumbai police commenced surveillance of Indrani. The surveillance was initiated after a tip-off. Shyamvar Pinturam Rai, Indrani's driver, was arrested on August 21, 2015 for possession of illegal weapons and it was alleged that, during his interrogation, he revealed details of Sheena Bora's murder.^[23] On August 26, 2015, Sheena's brother Mikhail revealed that she was Indrani's daughter rather than sister.^[24][25]

Quoting the First Information Report filed by Mumbai police, the Hindustan Times reported that Rai had given a detailed account of the murder to police. It was Rai's allegation that Indrani had planned it and had discussed it with her ex-husband, Sanjeev Khanna. He alleged that Indrani had surveyed a likely area to dump the body the evening before the murder. On April 24, 2012, Khanna had flown to Mumbai and checked into the Hotel Hilltop at Worli. Rai alleged that Indrani had rented an Opel Corsa to facilitate abduction of Sheena and for disposal of her body. Indrani, he claimed, had earlier asked Sheena to meet her on the evening of April 24, 2012 and, though reluctant, she had agreed. At about 1800 hours on April 24, 2012, he went on, Indrani was joined by her ex-husband at his hotel in Worli. An hour later, when Sheena was dropped off by Rahul Mukerjea near National College on Linking Road in Bandra, Indrani, Sanjeev and driver Rai were there to meet her. Rai's account continued, alleging that Indrani sat next to him while Sheena was in the rear seat with Khanna. He said they took her to one of the by-lanes in Bandra and Khanna strangled her.

The police claimed that, after the murder, Sheena's body was taken to Indrani's house on Worli where it was put in a bag and stuffed in the trunk of the car.

Rai alleged that Khanna later left for his hotel while Indrani stayed home and Rai slept inside the car with the body in the trunk. In the early hours of April 25, 2012, he said, the three accused drove to the village of Gagode in Pen tehsil, Raigad. Concerned about the possibility of police checks, they propped Sheena's body up between Indrani and Khanna on the rear seat, as if asleep, rather than putting it in the boot.

At 0400 hours on April 25, 2012, police alleged, they dragged the body out of the car in an isolated spot in the forest, stuffed it back into the bag, poured petrol over it and set it ablaze. After the body was completely burnt, the accused returned to Mumbai. Khanna left Mumbai later that day.^{[6][9][26][27]}

Arrest and aftermath

On August 25, 2015, Mumbai police arrested Indrani Mukerjea accusing her of murdering Sheena Bora.^[28] Indrani was charged under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 34 (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and taken to the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrates' court, which remanded her in police custody.^[29][30] On August 26, 2015 Indrani's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna was also arrested in Kolkata and charged under sections 364 (kidnapping), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 120-B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code in the same issue.^[31] Sanjeev allegedly confessed to the offences charged. Peter Mukerjea was arrested on November 19, 2015, on charges related to Sheena Bora's murder and was also accused of siphoning company funds into a bank account in Sheena Bora's name in Singapore.^[32]

See also

• Indrani Mukerjea
• Peter Mukerjea

References