Why did Indrani Mukerjea kill Sheena Bora? Mumbai Police likely to reveal motive today

Mumbai/Guwahati: The Mumbai Police will on Friday question Sanjeev Khanna, said to be the second husband of Indrani Mukherjea, in the murder case of Sheena Bora.

Khanna was arrested in Kolkata on Wednesday and the Mumbai Police got his five-day transition remand yesterday. He arrived in Mumbai from Kolkata late last night. Khanna will appear before a court in Mumbai today.

After Sanjeev Khanna's arrival in Mumbai, police are planning to re-create the crime scene. Indrani and her driver Shyam Rai are alleged to have have eliminated Sheena on April 24, 2012, apparently in collusion with Khanna, in a moving car.

Notably, Khanna, who had divorced Indrani, is believed to have told the Mumbai Police in Kolkata that he was in the car in which Sheena was allegedly strangulated but claimed to have slept during the crime. This apparently contradicted the arrested driver's claim before police that Indrani and Khanna had strangulated Sheena in the car after giving her a spiked drink in a hotel room in Mumbai.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria had last evening said that he will be able to tell about the the motive of the murder only after interrogating the third accused, who is Sanjeev Khanna.

In a bid to get to the bottom of Sheena Bora's murder, police had on Thursday twice grilled Rahul Mukherjea, the victim's ex-lover and son of former media tycoon Peter Mukherjea, officials said.

Simultaneously, a two-member police team went to Guwahati in Assam and spoke to Mikhail Bora -- Sheena's brother - who claimed that he feared for his life from his mother, Indrani Mukherjea, now in police custody.

For a third time in less than 24 hours, Rahul was questioned in Mumbai about his long relationship with Sheena, his step-mother Indrani Mukherjea, why he didn't pursue the "missing person" complaint filed after Sheena disappeared and other related aspects.

Later, Rahul was escorted to his two flats in Khar and Bandra where he and Sheena spent time together, a fact brought in the open by his step-father Peter Mukherjea, Indrani's husband.

In Guwahati, Mumbai policemen questioned Mikhail Bora at his grandparents (Indrani's parents) home in Ganeshpuri area.

While the investigators were tight-lipped, Mikhail said he could be the "next target" after his sister (Sheena) if he visited Mumbai for the murder probe.

"I do not know. I may be the next target of my mother. She is very powerful. She can do anything she wants," he told the media.

"I can go to Mumbai only if the Assam government ensures that two nurses take care of my (ailing) grandparents. They are both in their 80s and suffer from dementia," he said.

Mikhail reiterated that he had repeatedly asked Indrani about Sheena's whereabouts but the former maintained she was in the US.

Later, Mikhail was called to Dispur police station and grilled a second time.

"They asked me some questions and I cooperated with them. I do not want to disclose anything now. They have said they might call me again. I will cooperate with them," he told the media.

The Assam Police gave no details, saying they were only facilitating the investigation by the Mumbai Police.

The murder case took a stunning twist on Wednesday after Peter Mukherjea, the former CEO of INX Media, revealed that Sheena had an affair with his son Rahul, something Indrani did not approve.

Mukherjea also made a startling claim that until recently he had believed that Sheena was Indrani's step-sister and not daughter.

Mikhail insists he knows a lot more about the case.

"The real reason behind the murder is something else, which I don't want to reveal now," he has said, adding he had "proof, documents and photographs which I shall reveal later".

So far, the Mumbai Police have arrested three people in connection with the Sheena's April 24, 2012 murder.

They are Indrani, her driver Shyam Rai and her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna, whom she had married in 1993. More arrests may follow.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria, who is directing the investigation, said Sheena was killed on April 24, 2012 and her body was found by Raigad police on May 23, 2012.

Driver Rai led the police to the murder site in Raigad, near Mumbai, a few months ago, from where police recovered Sheena's remains three years ago.

On Tuesday, Indrani and her driver were produced before a Mumbai court which sent them to police custody till August 31.

Assuring full cooperation with the police, Mukherjea admitted that he was stumped by his wife's arrest. "I am dumbstruck by this level of criminality."

(With IANS inputs)