Mumbai, Aug 29
With claims and counter-claims
and new leads emerging in the investigation, the exact motive behind the
Sheena Bora murder case remains shrouded in confusion, as investigators
continued to probe different angles here on Saturday.
According
to police, the death threats apprehended by Sheena's brother Mikhail
Bora were genuine and he was in Mumbai around April 24, 2012 when his
sister was killed.
Since the arrest on August 25 of Mikhail's
mother Indrani Mukherjea, wife of former media tycoon Peter Mukherjea,
Mikhail has repeatedly claimed that his life was threatened and alleged
that his mother had plotted to eliminate him like Sheena.
Living
up to his claims, he provided some evidences to the investigators, which
Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria said were being verified.
The
mystery of Sheena's passpost recovered from the Dehradun home of her
ex-boyfriend Rahul Mukherjea has been compounded with a new twist.
Officials
said Rahul had confronted Indrani about the passport but was informed
that Sheena had acquired a new passport and left for the US to pursue
studies.
Early next week, police intend to recreate the entire
crime scene -- from a spot near the National College in Bandra's Linking
Road to Raigad and back to Mumbai airport -- that took place on April
24, 2012, when Sheena was murdered, allegedly by Indrani, her ex-husband
Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai.
Now, police are pinning
hopes on the outcome of the forensic and DNA test reports of the victim
and the accused which are expected by next week.
Earlier on
Saturday, in a startling development, Raigad police admitted that no
case was registered by them after the remains suspected to be of Sheena
Bora were found from the murder site in forests near Pen in 2012.
Raigad
Superintendent of Police Mohammed Suvez Haque told media persons that
he was conducting an inquiry into the lapse and other aspects.
Shockingly,
however, he said that no crime offence, an accidental death report or a
first information report (FIR) was lodged by the concerned police
officials then.
On May 23, 2012, a local mango-seller had noticed a partially burnt human carcass and had informed the Pen police outpost.
A
team of police officials and a doctor had visited the site and
conducted a spot autopsy and collected samples of some portions of the
body remnants.
"These were later sent to Sir J.J. Hospital in
Mumbai for further analysis after a couple of days. Later, no report was
received and no report was sought by police about that," Haque said.
Police
had carried out a 'panchnama' (initial observation) of the body and the
inquest at the murder site, recorded statements of witnesses and made a
diary entry, but no other subsequent procedures were followed.
"I
am now inquiring why police (then) did not lodge any offence or ADR
(accidental death report) which shall be completed soon and submitted to
the seniors," Haque said, adding that he has already submitted a
preliminary report to the inspector general of police (Konkan Range).
Responding
to Mumbai police's request for help, he said Raigad police have also
provided all original documents pertaining to the case to them.
On
Friday, the Sir J.J. Hospital authorities had handed over the samples
of bones, nails and other evidence in its possession to Mumbai police,
which have been sent for DNA tests and forensic analysis to determine
their identity.
The hospital also said it had filed a report in
2012 on how the samples received were charred beyond recognition and
they could not identify them.
The development has now led to
speculation whether this could be a goof-up or a meticulous cover-up
operation, and the then police superintendent of Raigad and his team are
under the police scanner for their alleged role and lapses in the
matter.
Sheena was killed on April 24, 2012 and her remains were discovered near the Pen forests on May 23, 2012.
Her
mother Indrani, her ex-husband Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai have
been arrested in connection with the murder and are in police custody
till August 31.
On Friday night, in a major breakthrough in the case, Khanna cracked down and confessed to his role and complicity in the crime.
