The Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police lent the strangest of twists so far to the sensational Sheena Bora murder case this evening when it declared that it would be handed over to the CBI. The Devendra Fadnavis government has clearly found the Sheena Bora murder too hot to handle.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi who, along with the state Director-General of Police Sanjeev Dayal, the new Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed, felt that the case, which remains shrouded in mystery, deserved to be probed by the CBI.
Flaws in Police Investigation?
The meeting discussed the police’s status report on the case till such time that former Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria was in charge of it. The report, sources said, found flaws in the approach of the investigation.
It therefore necessitated a high-level discussion before the next course of action could be chalked out.
The decision, coming 10 days after Rakesh Maria was unceremoniously removed as Mumbai Police chief and replaced by Javed, is eyebrow-raising to say the least.
As the sordid crime unfolded with the arrest of former TV honcho Peter Mukerjea’s wife Indrani, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamwar Rai, there were allegations of a cover-up, of attempts to shield Peter Mukerjea from police action and, worst of all, muddled investigations.
Among the main questions that arose from the investigation which Maria led was why the police showed disinclination to subject Peter Mukerjea to custodial interrogation when his statements on TV news channels were found to be contradictory with what he told interrogators at Khar police station.
Understanding the complex nature of the investigation further required in the said case, and possible involvement of Central probe agencies needed in the said case, the government suggests the same to be investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
— Government Order
The case will now be investigated by the CBI’s special homicide unit in Mumbai.
While the Mumbai Police has been loath to reveal the real motive behind the murder of Sheena Bora, in April 2012, there are reasons to believe that personal reasons, including the closeness of a person ‘very close’ to Indrani Mukerjea with Sheena, was a motive more compelling than financial or some other for the murder.
Challenge for CBI: Motive of the Murder
A senior state government official privy to the process that led to the decision to hand over the case to the CBI told The Quint that the motive for the murder was “entirely personal” though, to keep no room for doubt, the Enforcement Directorate should be roped in to probe the financial angle, including the so-called dirty money trail.
The central agencies’ involvement is therefore required, though investigations by the police suggests that the motive was personal.
— Senior State Government Official
Addressing the media at Mantralaya, Bakshi said that the state government had decided “not to interfere in the case” and wanted to remain “completely impartial.”
The move to request the CBI to probe the Sheena Bora murder was felt because Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was of the view that his image had taken a beating following his decision to transfer Maria out as Director-General (Home Guards).
State Government Sought to Play Safe
Clearly, the state government sought to “play safe” by letting the CBI investigate the murder.
The manner in which the police “arrested” Indrani’s driver by planting a gun on him, the huge holes in his story, the investigators’ disinclination to subject Peter Mukerjea to custodial interrogation, making suggestions to the effect that all the three accused persons had “confessed” to the crime only contributed to “weakening” the case.
Consequently, the financial angle was projected as the motive, though there was enough evidence of circumstantial nature to suggest that personal reasons could have led to the murder.
Why was Mikhail Bora, Sheena’s brother who lives in Guwahati, brought over to Mumbai and not interrogated beyond the few hours that he was at Khar police station?
Mikhail had claimed immediately after the August 25 arrest of Indrani that the real motive for the murder was not financial and that he had photographic evidence to suggest as much.
It is learnt that Mikhail shared the photographs with the Mumbai Police. Shouldn’t the police have laid greater store on those photographs? What do the photographs contain? Who features in them? Do they implicate the man ‘very close’ to Indrani Mukerjea?
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