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Police Exhume Sheena Bora's Remains For Fresh Clues

Police Exhume Sheena Bora's Remains For Fresh Clues
PTI

Three years ago, police buried a half-burnt body they found dumped in a gorge at Maharashtra's Raigad without forensic tests when no one came forward to claim it. On Friday, the remains of the body, believed to be that of Sheena Bora, were exhumed and sent for tests in the hope that they would shed light on the murder mystery that has gripped India over the past few days.

According to several accounts, former HR consultant and the wife of one of India's most influential television executives, Indrani Mukerjea, allegedly strangled her 24-year-old daughter Sheena to death and dumped her body at the Gogade Khurd.

NDTV reported that a skull and bones have been found at the spot where Sheena's body was found buried.

Sheena was allegedly strangled to death and Indrani, her driver Shyam Rai and former husband, Sanjeev Khanna, have been arrested in connection with the murder. The Indian Express reported that the suspects allegedly conducted a recce of the route they would take for her kidnap and murder, quoting the police.

Khanna allegedly helped her dispose the body, the report added. Remains of Sheena's body were spotted by villagers in Raigad, a month after the murder on April 24, 2012. But it was only after the arrest of Rai that skeletons kept tumbling out of the closet of the Mukerjea and Bora families, exposing a mesh of convoluted relationships that were kept from the public eye for ye. Indrani is currently married to former Star TV India CEO Peter Mukerjea.

On Friday, Indrani's son Mikhail Bora was taken to Mumbai for further questioning. Mikhail, travelling by a commercial flight, was accompanied by a friend and a police team from Mumbai who had come to Guwahati to question him about his mother's alleged involvement in the killing of his elder sister. Mikhail, upon arrival at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport in Mumbai, was taken in a police vehicle to the Thane police station.

Mikhail has alleged that his mother killed his sister and he knew the exact reason of the murder and would disclose it to the police.

Yesterday and the day before, prior to the visit by the Mumbai Police team, Bora had claimed before reporters that he had evidence on the murder case of his sister and that he feared that he "may be the next target".

Both Sheena and Mikhail, whom Indrani had earlier introduced as her sister and brother, are her children from an earlier relationship. Indrani left them with her parents U K Bora and Durga Rani Bora at their residence before leaving for Kolkata where she married Khanna.

The Mumbai Police questioning Khanna told a Kolkata court that he was allegedly involved not only in the murder of Sheena Bora on April 24, 2012, but also with its planning.

The submission made by Mumbai Police at the Alipore court claimed Indrani had told them how she had carried a reccee of Raigad's Pen area with her driver Shyam Rai on April 23 to "identify the exact spot where to dispose of the body."

Khanna has claimed that he had climbed into the SUV driven by Shyam along with Indrani, but had dozed off a few minutes later. He claimed that when he woke up he found Sheena dead near him.

Indrani's lawyer had yesterday moved an application in the metropolitan magistrate's court in Bandra seeking home food, clothes and permission to meet her in custody. The Bandra court, while allowing the application, directed the police to follow the guidelines framed by the apex court on the rights of the accused. Mukerjea's lawyer Gunjan Mangala had told the court that when the lawyers went to meet her, the police denied the permission repeatedly.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.