Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani, arrested in Sheena Bora murder case, had approached a senior Mumbai Police officer in 2012 seeking help to trace the call location of Sheena.
Indrani exclaimed excitedly, her face lighting up like a little girl's: "I know him soo0o well." Sanjeev Khanna, Accused No 2, jokingly suggested to Badami: "Influencing the witness!" Badami retorted good humouredly: "She can't influence witnesses. She can only influence you and Peter."
Ganesh Dhene said there had only been two or three mango trees in the grove, from where he found the skeleton, which he specified had no flesh on it.
The court allowed Karti to carry spectacles and medicines as per prescription subject to examination and approval by the jail doctor, but denied his request to carry toiletries, books, clothes and home food.
The close-onto four years (since November 2015) Peter has spent in Arthur Road jail, central Mumbai, in judicial custody, have taken their toll, lending him a bit of a melancholy stoop, a laborious gait and a tired face, turning him prematurely into a much older man than his nearly 64 years. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.
Pasbola wound up his cross examination, tabling a new narrative in the murder case. That Sheena Bora had been murdered not by her mother. But by her brother.
And then came the chief moment of Friday. If the courtroom had a soundtrack, Beethoven's 9th would be playing, providing a triumphant, dramatic prologue to the production of this last clip. A woman reporter was asking Mekhail about Sanjeev Khanna. He says clearly, without mincing words, emphatically: 'Never seen him. First time I am hearing his name.'
Don't forget to make your pick for the newsmaker of 2015.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports on the Sheena Bora Trial.
Shivade: "You didn't find any brain inside the brain cavity?" Dr Thakur nodded. The judge shocked: "Huh?!"
Peter told Judge Jagdale that there was only jewellery in the locker -- some of it that he had "gifted to my wife" and some that "she had received" at the time of their marriage, that the CBI had already inspected the locker in his presence and were aware of what was there.
Noise levels began to climb and everyone else in the room stared agape as the fracas escalated, including the trio of accused at the back. Peter, Sanjeev and Indrani stood at the edge of their enclosure craning to see the spectacle.
His answer to every question was, "I am politically victimised", the CBI said.
No home food for Karti, medicines allowed only on prescription.
One always ponders over why the witnesses should not have poor memory when answering cross examination questions or recounting events that occurred six years ago. Too many witnesses seemed to have drunk some Harry Potter-esque Philosopher's Stone magic elixir that has Botoxed their fading memory to make it as good as new again.
'You don't want to admit that it is your wife in the video because she said you were arrested on Wednesday (August 19; Shyamvar Rai states he was arrested on August 21, a Friday).'
Tuesday was the last that Courtroom 51 saw of Shyamvar Rai, accused No 3 and approver in the Sheena Bora murder trial. True to form, Rai's final hours in the witness box were rather acrimonious. His cross-examination at several points turned downright ugly.
Pasbola had a number of queries about the nails of the corpse found at Gagode Khurd. Did it have nails? Nails, in a case of strangulation, are key because they often have particles and skin beneath them to show the victim had been grasping something as s/he was strangled.
'They (the government) want to tame everything.' 'The entire systems they are trying to change.'
'He had a carry bag made of plastic. One pistol came out of it. There was also a magazine which had three rounds. And a mobile and a Rs 100 currency note.' No prizes for guessing who that was...
Dr Gupta handled Shivade's blows with quite some equanimity... So it was often only Shivade down in the mud pit, egging and enticing the doctor to join the fight, while Dr Gupta cautiously kept to the sidelines, barely stepping a toe into the mud.
'There is no senior bureaucracy functioning now; these people only obey.' 'This is only a command and control kind of governance.'
'I am an old man. 64 years... Never used influence.' 'I am not a politician or a criminal. What influence?' 'Retired. I could not protect myself even (from fabricated charges)?' 'Have no money now either.' 'I don't want to die in custody in disrepute.'
'Could the Khar police and the CBI have tinkered with the driver's call data records?' 'And did their fiddling with the information not make it that they were tampering with the lives of people that were in the balance as a result of this case?'
Singh and Badami subsequently took Waghmare to a corner of the corridor outside, where others have no access, and gave him a lecture. The conversation was largely inaudible, except for a phrase here or there. The thrust was unmistakable. Waghmare had to learn not to give such detailed answers to the defence.
He was getting fruits, but no implement to cut them with. He told the judge, sadly: "I have tried and it is very difficult, your honour." His statement quickly brought up the imagery of Peter trying to cut a pineapple with his teeth or a papaya with a pen or a toothbrush.
Shivade then asked if the skeleton finally came out of the ground in many parts. It was difficult not to gasp aloud at that revelation. Bhagat said that was true.
'Dalvi, you are saying you asked a question, but don't remember the answer?' asks Pasbola incredulously. 'Yes.' 'You are lying.'
In his petition, Karti contended that the July 18 circular had been issued arbitrarily and without jurisdiction by the Foreigner Regional Registration Officer and The Bureau of Immigration under the Union home ministry at the behest of different agencies to prevent him from travelling abroad.
Many pictures showed The Skeleton Named Sheena. For the purpose of the photographs, the skeleton had been re-assembled and looked straight at the camera.
As Indrani, Sanjeev Khanna and Peter pass cupboard no 6 -- where the skull is stored -- what thoughts pass through their mind?
The warmest reception came from his soon-to-be ex wife Indrani, who on spying him getting out of the lift, muttered an "Oh dear!" and walked over to him, trailed by her police guards, wreathed in high-wattage smiles.
Two days after he was shunted from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner, Rakesh Maria's supervisory role in the Sheena Bora murder case remained clouded in uncertainty and the Maharashtra government was working on legal procedures to soon give him statutory powers.
The decision was announced at a press meet by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi.
After ten minutes no one could keep track of the legal team's questions on the geography of the route Sandeep Patil took on his Pulsar Bajaj motorcycle, on the morning of April 25, 2012. Not the judge. Or the onlookers. Least of all Patil.
Chidambaram, 74, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 21 and is lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody in the corruption case.
Chidambaram said it was a 'despicable slur' on the six secretaries of the government.
The software had, perhaps unknown to Dr Tripathi, tracked the changes he had made. The 'morph track' feature of the software provided a trail of what had been done and also indicated that the doctor had, it seemed, opted to morph Sheena's face with the provided skull, much in the same manner that Fantamorph can turn a woman into a cheetah.
'All governments try owning the message, but the Modi-Shah BJP has developed it into a fine art.'
Rediff.com looks at other sensational murder mysteries that left India shell-shocked.
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