A dramatic turn came in the Sheena Bora murder case on Tuesday after Vidhie Mukerjea, daughter of former media executive Indrani Mukerjea and a key witness, denied her statements recorded by the Khar police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
She also said that documents annexed as her statement in the CBI’s chargesheet were “forged and fabricated”.
Vidhie deposed as a witness in the murder case before special CBI judge JP Darekar on Tuesday.
During the hearing, she claimed that her mother was left with no funds to defend herself as Rahul and Rabin, media baron Peter Mukerjea’s sons, had stolen her ancestral jewellery worth crores and cash amounting to ₹7 crore from Indrani’s account.
Thus, they had a clear motive to falsely implicate Indrani, the witness said.
Vidhie, who was a minor at the time of the crime, admitted that she was called by the Mumbai Police, which probed the case initially, and then by the CBI for questioning.
Vidhie also claimed that she was made to sign a bunch of documents, including a copy of emails (of her alleged conversation with Bora) and blank sheets at the CBI’s office.
In the CBI court, when the statement, part of the chargesheet, was shown to Vidhie, she explicitly denied, saying it was “never recorded by me or under my instruction”.
Calling the statement “forged and fabricated”, she further said that if such a forged statement has been recorded “under my name there would be ulterior motives and malafide intentions”.
The witness alleged somebody had forged and fabricated her statement to falsely implicate her biological parents — Indrani Mukerjea and Sanjeev Khanna — in the murder case.
She recalled Bora had introduced herself to her as Indrani Mukerjea’s “sister”.
According to Vidhie Mukerjea, initially, Bora and Indrani were extremely close, and disputes between them started only after Rahul, son of Peter Mukerjea, started visiting their Worli flat in central Mumbai.
According to the prosecution’s case, Sheena Bora (24) was strangled to death in a car by her mother Indrani Mukerjea, her then driver Shyamvar Rai (who later turned approver in the case) and Khanna in April 2012.
Her body was burnt and disposed of in a forest in the adjoining Raigad district.
The murder came to light in 2015 after Rai spilt the beans about the crime following his arrest in another case linked to the Arms Act.
