Mikhail Bora projected himself as Indrani Mukerjea’s second target after the murder of his sister Sheena Bora. Soon after his mother’s arrest on 25 August 2015, he squarely blamed her for murdering his ‘sister’. Now it appears that he may not be as innocent as he was made out to be to a frenzied media covering the sensational killing.
Contradictory Statements
In a statement to the media on 27 August 2015, Mikhail claimed that he had never ever seen or met Sanjeev Khanna (one of the accused in the case) before. But in a long interview to one TV news channel, he claimed to have seen Khanna at Indrani’s Marlow residence in Worli, Mumbai, around 1:30 am on 25 April 2012, a few hours after Sheena was allegedly murdered in a car in Pali Hill.
Also read on The Quint: Sheena Bora Murder: A Flawed Probe and a Chargesheet in Tatters
It appears that between the two media appearances, Mikhail may have been tutored to implicate Khanna. The CBI needs to find out who did so.
Now, Mikhail’s call data record – consisting an unusually long series of calls and texts exchanged between him, Indrani and Rai a few days before and after Sheena’s murder – suggests that his arrival in Mumbai on 24 April 2012, though at Indrani’s behest, could have involved a more sinister motive.
Texts and Calls on Murder Day
On the day of the murder, Mikhail sent an SMS to Indrani at 7:40 pm. Indrani replied at 8:29 pm, immediately after which she called Sameer Buddha, a former employee at INX Media.
She called her driver Shyamwar at 8:30 pm. Next Mikhail texted Indrani at 8:31 pm to which she replied at 8:55 pm. Mikhail texted back at 8:59, and Indrani then called Mikhail at 9:21 pm, and again at 9:27 pm.
Mikhail called her at 9:56 pm and Shyamwar at 10:52 pm.
The flurry of texts and calls on the evening and night of 24 April 2012, when Sheena was being murdered or had already been killed, is strange considering that Mikhail was all drunk and drugged at the Mukerjeas’ Marlow apartment.
According to Mikhail, Indrani left Marlow around 2:30 am on 25 April 2012, without locking him from outside. Mikhail claims to have suspected something and left the apartment at first light to take a flight back to Guwahati.
Projecting Himself as the Next Target
Mikhail has openly claimed that after Sheena, Indrani had planned to kill him – a statement that needs deeper investigation. This is not borne out by the tone and tenor of the messages that he exchanged with Indrani before and after Sheena’s murder.
The Mumbai Police earlier, and the CBI later went along with the story that Mikhail too was to be killed by Indrani, and in support of their claims, produced a large suitcase in which Indrani would have carried out Mikhail’s body. This theory is not supported by any corroborative evidence.
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