Was Sheena Bora Shot Dead?

Oh, what a strange 'tangled web' these two men and one woman have been caught up in for the last nine years.

Accused No 1 Indrani Mukerjea, Accused No 2 Sanjeev Khanna and Accused No 4 Peter Mukerjea are not usually all present in court at hearings in the Sheena Bora murder trial, taking place at Judge Dr Jyoti P Darekar's Courtroom No 51, Mumbai civil and sessions court, Kala Ghoda, south Mumbai.

Sometimes one or another of them takes an absence for sickness or other pressing issues. And Sanjeev has special court permission to go back, at intervals, to Kolkata to look in on his elderly mother.

Ever since the trio got bail, more than five years ago, when they approached both the Bombay high court and the Supreme Court for their unfair length of incarceration as undertrials, court rules dictate they must not absent themselves from hearings more than two consecutive days, except in urgent circumstances.

Recently, all three of them were in court together for a hearing.

When I looked behind, at the rickety accused box in the back, at them, sitting on the long wooden bench, one pondered how unpredictable the future had been for them nine years ago. But more significantly one noted how much these three accused had changed over the years.

Indrani, 54, always alluring, in that distinct Assamese way, and never anything but perfectly dressed -- she was a cloud of white that Tuesday, with shells in her ears and shell anklets -- is halfway to becoming a lawyer or maybe fancies herself to be nearly there.

She also now finds peace as a performing dancer (Wikipedia strangely lists her as a 'British actor'). She has spent many tedious years studying every single document related to the case and educating herself on the legal aspects for her own self-survival.

Sanjeev, cool, collected, with a ready smile, is virtually a detective. You can almost see the magnifying glass in his hand and the Sherlock tweed hat. He has used his time since the trial began to unravel the complicated case the Mumbai police and the CBI built, poring over Google maps, timings, newspaper articles, case documents, often nipping to the front of the court, during hearings, ready and handy at defence lawyer Ranjeet Vishnupant Sangle's elbow, competently producing any kind of info the advocate might require.

It's hard to tell what Peter, 69, has become. Probably a soon-to-be author -- I mean he must have some fascinating memoirs to write. Maybe something of a philosopher. When I look into his face, I can see no trace of the dynamic Star CEO he once was.

He's mostly pensive, moody, deep in his own world, possibly sifting self-deprecating thoughts about life. Or else something more prosaic like thinking about his upcoming meal, given he always enjoyed his food.

Oh, what a strange 'tangled web' these two men and one woman have been caught up in for the last nine years. Or allegedly 'weaved'.

On February 24, 2026, Sangle, Indrani's lawyer, whose crosses have a certain fiery thecha-esque flamboyance, returned the court to April 24, 2012, nearly 14 years ago, to the grim night of Sheena Bora's murder.

Leaning on the most classic defence device, Sangle was strenuously engaged in that timeless backgammon move of turning the tables: Alleging the accuser was the alleged criminal.

His intriguing take was: Did anyone -- particularly the case's main investigating officer for the Mumbai police, Dinesh Parshuram Kadam, who is the man in the witness box at the moment, as Prosecution Witness No 146 -- check Rahul Mukerjea's movements that night.

Once he had driven Sheena to Amarsons Collections department store, in Bandra, north west Mumbai, near National College, to meet her mother, where did he go in Sheena's silver Maruti Alto? He was the last person to travel with Sheena in that car and to where had he headed off to afterwards?

Dinesh Kadam's reply was that Rahul waited to hear from Sheena as to when he had to pick her up and when she texted that she was spending the night at Marlow building in central Mumbai in Worli with her mother Indrani, he then drove home to the flat he and Sheena shared in Marol, Andheri, north west Mumbai.

But Sangle quickly pointed out, that as per his phone records and his crossex in 2022, Rahul had in the interim on April 24, it seems, wandered in the general Khar area, north west Mumbai.

Sangle: "Did you ask Rahul Mukerjea how long it took to reach his residence allegedly after dropping Sheena to Bandra?"

Kadam: "No."

Sangle, who likes to pile on the word 'allegedly', in a string, multiplying its usage, pointedly, merrily, in his queries: "Was it revealed to you during the entire investigation what time Rahul Mukerjea allegedly reached his house in Marol, Andheri, after allegedly dropping Sheena Bora to Amarsons, Bandra?"

Kadam said it had not.

The lawyer in his next question exaggeratedly reminded Kadam: "Rahul Mukerjea was the last person to travel and be seen with Sheena Bora in her Maruti Alto car on April 24, 2012, based on his statement and admissions?"

Kadam, perennially concise: "Ho."

To be fair, Kadam's investigation was still ongoing when it was handed over to the CBI in late September, 2015, and so further following up in different directions had not been possible by Khar police station, to which Kadam was attached, who first began investigating the case.

• Also Read: Does Rahul Wonder If Sheena Is Dead?

The indefatigable Sangle probed on tirelessly, exhausting Kadam, running through a long list of points on February 24 and 25, asking if the Khar police and Kadam had checked or knew that (and why they did not know):
- Rahul did not disclose he was either married or engaged to Sheena to Kadam or the Khar police.
- Rahul said he had gone to four Mumbai police stations to register a missing report for Sheena and was told he was not a relative and could not do so. Why didn't he tell the police he was married to Sheena?
- Was there documentary proof that he had actually visited these police stations like he said?
- Rahul did not disclose that his mother knew a Parambir Singh, then inspector general of police, Konkan range, but yet he did not contact Singh for help in locating a missing Sheena.
- He was offered legal help by Sheena's lawyer friend but did not take it.
- Rahul did not offer any details about the 'ear tops' Sheena was wearing on April 24 (later found in the car).
- No forensic analysis was done of the Marol flat Sheena and Rahul shared for blood stains or DNA or of the Maruti Alto.
- No one checked why Sheena and Sameer Buddha (a Mukerjea friend and owner of a security agency) had spoken so many times on the day of her murder and he was not aware that Sanjeev Khanna and Sameer Buddha had a physical likeness (Now did they?!).

Sangle Flags Alleged Abuse, Gaps in Rahul Probe

Then Sangle slowly approached the most powerful and memorable moment of all these last many days of the cross-examination of Kadam:

Sangle asked in Marathi in words to the effect: "Rahul Mukerjea to tila violently maraycha ani tichya angawar daag uthle hote or he often physically assaulted and abused Sheena Bora and there were marks of violence on her body. Did you find out about that??"

There was a long silence. A kind of hushed extended pause.

Momentarily, a wave of mixed emotions walked across Kadam's face and was visible for all to see... Like he knew something but was not going to tell.

He slowly answered in Marathi: "I did not."

What was it he knew?

Sangle wondered forcefully, shocked, why their violent domestic relationship was not a matter of interest to the investigators, particularly Kadam.

But Kadam denied embarking on any investigation to check if abusive domestic discord troubled Sheena and Rahul's relationship and reluctantly agreed that it might have been an important angle to have followed.

Sangle then hopped ahead to April 26, 2012 and unearthed how there were no details on what Rahul had done that whole day, two days after Sheena's alleged murder.

He put it to Kadam in a slow, emphatic tone: "He was with Shyamvar Rai (the then Mukerjea driver and Accused No 3 whose appearances in court are as rare as spotting a snowflake in Mumbai) the whole day!"

Kadam laughed, maybe because he found the claim too preposterous, and then shrugged saying he was not aware.

Indrani beamed a big, many-watt satisfied smile to the court.

Peter didn't react, face impassive. He's in a tricky-sticky, between-rock-and-hard-spot situation. If Indrani is found not guilty, he gets a clean chit too, but the defence strategy leans heavily on blackening the reputation of his younger son.

Sangle made Kadam recall that Rai had said, in his statement, that on April 26, after picking up Peter from the airport, the driver had subsequently done some 'saph-saphai' of the Marlow garage. And he had disposed of a suitcase (the twin of the one used to transport Sheena's body), giving it to house/office boy Pradeep Waghmare (who also mentioned it in his testimony in June 2018).

That day -- Kadam agreed he was aware -- Rahul also visited Marlow right about the time of the spring cleaning, looking for a missing Sheena and possibly met Rai.

During the February 25 and 26 court hearings, Sangle went on a friendly-ish exploratory tour with Kadam over the manner in which DNA and blood samples had been collected for Shyamvar Rai and Indrani and where they had been stored. They were kept overnight in a common fridge at the Khar police station on August 26, 2015, before they were sent to DFSI, Kalina, north west Mumbai, for examining.

Kadam said the samples had been sealed but Sangle attempted to not allow the word sealed to come on the court record, doubting its validity.

Coming up: After the days off for Holi, there was more Rahul bashing on March 9 and March 10 and if he allegedly had the "classic traits of a habitual criminal" and long discussions on the price of cocaine, charas, ganja, that quite amused the judge.

But before that Shyamvar Pinturam Rai's country revolver, that he was not licensed to possess, was the centre of a hearing.

Why?

Because forensics had reported that a shot had been fired from the pistol and there was residue of ammunition in its barrel.

Where had Rai fired the pistol?...

• THE SHEENA BORA MURDER TRIAL

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff