A Bandra court in Mumbai on Monday extended the police remand of Indrani Mukherjea, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Manohar Rai till 5 Septmeber in the case of murder of her daughter Sheena Bora.
The police remand of the three main accused in the mysterious murder case was to expire on Monday and the Mumbai police had sought their further custody as they were allegedly not cooperating with the investigators and did not answer some crucial questions.
The police also added attempt to murder charge against the accused for allegedly trying to kill Sheena's brother Mikhail Bora.
They have also added Section 328 IPC (causing hurt by poison) against the three accused.
The police said they wanted to recover Sanjeev Khanna's passport so his custody was needed for more days.
All 3 accused in #SheenaBora case sent for police custody till 5th Sep.
— ANI (@ANI_news) August 31, 2015
Sheena case: Police add attempt to murder charge against accused; say they want to recover Sanjeev Khanna's passport.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 31, 2015
Section 328 IPC (causing hurt by poison) also added against accused in the Sheena Bora murder case. — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 31, 2015
During the hearing, Indrani fainted on the court premises.
Indrani Mukerjea had fainted in the court, recovered a little later.
— ANI (@ANI_news) August 31, 2015
Indrani, Khanna and Rai had allegedly strangled Sheena to death, stuffed her body in a suitcase that was then set ablaze and dumped in a forest in Pen Tehsil in Maharashtra's Raigad district in April 2012.
According to police, both Rai and Khanna have confessed being a part of the murder, but are not telling the interrogators how much Indrani paid them to assist her in killing Sheena. According to the police, the financial transaction would be crucial in further investigation, the Hindustan Times reported.
Indrani, on the other hand, has refused to confess to the crime, although she has admitted that Sheena was her daughter from a previous marriage and that she "hated" her. Indrani even admitted to having a financial dispute with Sheena, NDTV reported.
Indrani has also been giving contradictory statements to the interrogators.
Indrani hired hitman to kill son Mikhail?
Mikhail Bora, Sheena's brother, accused his mother Indrani of plotting his murder as well. He has claimed that Indrani had hired a hitman in Mumbai to eliminate him in August 2014, the fourth attempt to kill him. Mikhail also alleged that earlier Indrani had sent him to a mental asylum in Pune.
The police have reportedly detained the contract killer who was allegedly paid Rs 2.5 lakh to eliminate Mikhail.
"Our information is that the plan failed to take off. We have detained the contract killer. He has admitted that he was hired by Indrani to eliminate Mikhail," The Times of India quoted a bureaucrat as saying.
The Mumbai police have reportedly recovered the suitcase that Indrani had bought to dispose of Mikhail's body. The police may now slap attempt to murder charge on Indrani for plotting to kill her son.
Indrani was arrested on Tuesday after her driver Rai confessed to killing Sheena during interrogation in another case. A day after her arrest, the Mumbai police nabbed Sanjeev Khanna with the help of the Kolkata police.
Indrani is the co-founder of INX Media and wife of Peter Mukherjea, the former CEO of Star India.
