Indrani Mukerjea, 39 other inmates test COVID-19 positive in Maharashtra's Byculla jail

File photo

Mumbai: Sheena Bora murder case accused Indrani Mukerjea and 39 other inmates of the Byculla prison here have tested positive for coronavirus and shifted to a quarantine centre.

These 40 inmates were found positive for coronavirus after they were subjected to Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), news agency PTI reported an official saying.

"Most of the 40 inmates are asymptomatic. They were shifted to the isolation centre of the prison at Patankar School in Byculla in Central Mumbai as a precautionary measure," he said.

The RAT was performed on Sunday as one of the women prisoners was found infected and shifted to the COVID centre at St George Hospital in South Mumbai, the official said.

Subsequently, RAT was conducted on 350 women prisoners, 225 men inmates and 60 staff of the jail, out of whom 40 women tested positive for coronavirus.

Mukerjea has been lodged at the Byculla prison since her arrest in the murder case in August 2015.

The prosecution's case is that Mukerjea, along with her former husbands Sanjeev Khanna and Peter Mukerjea, had killed Sheena Bora, who was born of her previous relationship, in the year 2012.