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The CBI registered an FIR in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case on Tuesday. Now, it turns out that the case will be investigated by a team of CBI officials in Delhi rather than in Mumbai. According to a CBI spokesperson, CBI Delhi has all-India jurisdiction to investigate any case.
CBI officials have to visit different cities or states like Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati for investigation. Delhi CBI officials have power to visit any place for investigation across the country. But Mumbai CBI officials don’t have similar powers. Hence, the case was registered here.
— CBI spokesperson told The Quint
Or is it because the CBI wants to keep the case away from Mumbai and influential people connected to it? A retired senior CBI officer said jurisdiction is not a problem.
I think CBI intentionally wants to keep the case in Delhi. Both Delhi and Mumbai CBI Crime Branch has all-India jurisdiction to investigate any case.
— Former CBI Special Director
Earlier in the case, Rakesh Maria was suddenly removed from his post as Mumbai Police Commissioner and promoted to the post of Director General of Home Guards. It was reported that though the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, had lauded the police for their efforts in the murder case, he was clearly unhappy with Maria’s level of interest in the case. While former Mumbai police Chief Satyapal Singh alleged that Maria was close to Peter Mukerjea, Rakesh Maria later denied the allegation.
Within days of taking charge as Mumbai Police Commissioner, Ahmed Javed too was caught in the controversy. It emerged that Ahmed knew Indrani and Peter Mukerjea socially. In fact on a news channel, Javed admitted that he invited the couple to a personal party in July 2014.
Keeping in mind the controversies surrounding this case, does the CBI want to play it safe than to feel sorry later? Is this the reason why the CBI has registered the case in Delhi? It’s not the first time that the CBI has got a sensitive case from Mumbai.
It has to be noted that cases like the Adarsh scam and the Sohrabuddin murder were investigated by the Mumbai CBI across the country.
A six-member CBI team has already left for Mumbai to collect the documents regarding the murder case from the Mumbai Police. CBI sources said that the officers will interrogate all the three accused in the jail. The CBI team will also revisit the crime scene as well as question all key witnesses in the case.
As the motive behind the murder is not clear, hope is now attached to India’s premier investigative agency. Maybe this is the reason that the CBI wants to keep away from Mumbai and the city’s influential people.