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Indrani's Former Husband Sanjeev Khanna Confesses Complicity In Sheena Bora Murder, Says Mumbai Police Chief

Indrani's Former Husband Sanjeev Khanna Confesses Complicity In Sheena Bora Murder
MUMBAI, INDIA - AUGUST 27: Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria comes out of Khar Police station after interrogation in Sheena Bora Murder case on August 27, 2015 in Mumbai, India. Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria is personally involved in the investigation being conducted by Khar police in suburban Mumbai. He had earlier questioned accused Indrani Mukherjea, mother of Sheena. Indrani's former husband Sanjeev Khanna from Kolkata whom she married in 1993, and her driver Shyam Rai from Mumbai, were also arrested in connection with the case. (Photo by Prashant Waydande/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
MUMBAI, INDIA - AUGUST 27: Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria comes out of Khar Police station after interrogation in Sheena Bora Murder case on August 27, 2015 in Mumbai, India. Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria is personally involved in the investigation being conducted by Khar police in suburban Mumbai. He had earlier questioned accused Indrani Mukherjea, mother of Sheena. Indrani's former husband Sanjeev Khanna from Kolkata whom she married in 1993, and her driver Shyam Rai from Mumbai, were also arrested in connection with the case. (Photo by Prashant Waydande/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

MUMBAI—The Sheena Bora murder case probe took a new turn on Friday, with police claiming that Sanjeev Khanna, former husband of Indrani Mukerjea, confessed to his complicity in the crime.

"We just interrogated the third accused (Khanna) and he has confessed to his complicity in the crime," Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria told reporters.

Khanna confessed his complicity in the crime during a joint interrogation when he was brought face to face with Indrani, wife of former STAR CEO Peter Mukerjea, her driver Shyam Rai along with her son Mikhail Bora.

Khanna had earlier claimed that he was sleeping when 24-year-old Sheena was murdered and found her dead in the vehicle.

"This morning, we have recovered the skeletal remains of the deceased Sheena Bora. We have also recovered her passport from Dehradun today. This would negate the theory that Sheena went to the US. Further inverstigations are going on," the Mumbai police commissioner told reporters.

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.

Maria said the skeletal remains would be sent for DNA test on Saturday.

"We have interrogated Mikhail as well and he has also given us some points which we are verifying," Maria said.

The probe into the mysterious murder gathered pace on Friday with the questioning of Khanna, who the police said played a role in the abduction of the victim along with her mother and driver and killed her in Pen in Raigad more than three years ago.

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 the driver 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 years.

Earlier producing Khanna before court, police contended that Indrani, her driver and Khanna abducted Sheena in a car and took her to a forest in Pen town of Maharashtra's Raigad district where they killed her allegedly by strangulation.

The trio had then poured petrol on her body and burnt it in the forest, they said.

Khanna, who was arrested in Kolkata, was on Friday remanded in police custody till Monday after being charged with murder, kidnapping and other offences.

Police now want to recover the object with which Sheena was killed and also the car in which she was abducted and taken to the forest in Pen. They have taken possession of Khanna's passport, laptop and mobile phone and sought his custody on the ground that a detailed probe is required to be done in the case.

Mikhail, brother of Sheena, who was brought from Guwahati was also questioned on Friday. He had been making claims that he has evidence to prove why his mother killed Sheena, saying he but he would give it to police.

He said he would cooperate fully with police because he was seeking justice for his sister.

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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.