A Wealthy Mother Murdered Her Daughter

Ten years ago, Sheena Bora, a 24-year-old Indian woman, was allegedly strangled, burned, and buried in a remote area of Maharashtra, India. Her mother, Indrani Mukerjea, who is the CEO and founder of INX Media and the wife of former Star CEO Peter Mukerjea, is suspected of being involved in her daughter's death. Additionally, there were concerns that Sheena's brother, Mikhail, who is Indrani's son, might also be in danger and was questioned by the police.

As per the police, Indrani instructed both Sheena and Mikhail to introduce themselves as her siblings rather than her children. She was keen to uphold her image as a successful and youthful businesswoman, and having grown-up children did not fit her desired persona. Initially, Sheena and Mikhail lived with Indrani's parents while she married Sanjeev Khanna, a businessman from Kolkata, and had a daughter named Vidhie. Vidhie was unaware of her half-sister and always believed Sheena to be her mother's younger sibling.

After moving to Mumbai, Sheena secured a job at Mumbai Metro One. Meanwhile, her mother Indrani married her third husband, Peter Mukerjea, a business magnate 16 years her senior. It was during this time that Sheena met Rahul Mukerjea, Peter's younger child from a previous marriage, and they developed a romantic relationship. However, Indrani allegedly made numerous attempts to end their relationship.

Indrani strongly objected to Rahul and Sheena's marriage since Rahul was the rightful heir to Peter Mukerjea's wealth. She feared that her hard-earned empire would eventually pass on to her firstborn daughter, Sheena, rather than her own daughter Vidhie, causing her great distress.

According to reports, due to her deteriorating health, Sheena had no choice but to follow her mother's advice and move back in with her grandparents. However, once she reached Bangalore, she managed to get in touch with Rahul, and they were able to reunite.

In his book "The Sheena Bora Case," journalist and author Manish Pachouly uses the investigation files to narrate how Sheena was allegedly murdered. Pachouly explains that Indrani reached out to Sheena under the guise of reconciling their argument over Sheena's engagement to Rahul. On the evening of April 24, 2012, she invited Sheena to meet her at the location where Rahul had dropped her off.

Following the day of the meeting between Sheena and Indrani, Sheena was reported missing. However, when a senior police official attempted to investigate, he was discouraged from doing so as Indrani claimed that she had sent her "sister" to the United States for higher education. Moreover, Indrani managed to send a final text message to Rahul from Sheena's phone, stating that Sheena was ending all ties with him because she was going to the United States to study.

Peter Mukerjea, a prominent figure in the TV industry, also expressed concerns about the fast-paced relationship between his son Rahul and Sheena. When Indrani informed him that Sheena had been relocated to the United States, he advised Rahul to keep his distance.

It has been reported that Indrani Mukerjee offered a bribe to a Mumbai-based psychiatrist to issue a fake certificate stating that her son Mikhail was suffering from a mental illness. The police believe that she planned to use this certificate as a means of threatening Mikhail if he continued to search for his missing sister.

Although the police were monitoring Indrani's movements, they did not approach her at that time. However, during an unrelated investigation, her driver, Rai, was detained by the police on August 21, 2015, in connection with an illegal gun case. During questioning, the police began asking him about Sheena, which prompted Rai to break down and confess to his involvement in the murder.

Rai revealed that Indrani had planned the murder with the help of her second husband, Sanjeev Khanna, and promised to pay for his family's medical expenses and education in exchange for his assistance.

On August 25, 2015, Indrani was arrested by the police at her home in Worli, India. The following day, her second husband Sanjeev Khanna was also apprehended at his residence in Kolkata.

Indrani allegedly gave Sheena a bottle of water laced with sedatives after picking her up and taking her to a store. When the drug took effect and Sheena began to doze off, Indrani instructed Rai to drive to a remote area of Bandra. Rai and Khanna reportedly held Sheena down while Indrani strangled her to death. The next step was to dispose of the body. According to police, Sheena's corpse was taken to Indrani's home in Worli, where it was placed in a bag and then placed in the trunk of the car.

Rai stated that Khanna had already left for his hotel in the morning, while Indrani stayed at home, and he himself had slept in the car with Sheena's body in the trunk. On April 25, 2012, the three suspects left their homes and drove to Raigad village of Gagode. Sheena's body was placed between Indrani and Khanna in the back seat, propped up as if she were sleeping, because they feared being stopped by the police and having to explain the body's location. They believed that they had eliminated all evidence when they threw the body off a cliff and doused it with gasoline.

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In 2015, Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria received a call from an anonymous person, reporting that Sheena Bora had been missing for three years. As a result, Dinesh Kadam, a private investigator from another police station, was assigned by Commissioner Maria to investigate. Kadam soon became suspicious of Indrani.

The case was complicated by the fact that Sheena had been murdered in 2012, but no one had informed the police until 2015. When Rahul and others asked about her whereabouts, they reportedly received vague and conflicting responses from Indrani and Peter, who had not reported her missing.

A month after Sheena's body was burned in the Raigad region, locals discovered her charred remains and informed the police. However, the police buried the unclaimed body without obtaining any forensic evidence.

Her motive
Possible motives behind the murder of Sheena Bora include her romantic involvement with Rahul Mukerjea and the potential inheritance of the Mukerjea family wealth. It was speculated that Indrani feared losing control over the family fortune if Sheena were to marry Rahul, as the couple would inherit it. This is believed to be the reason why Indrani orchestrated the disappearance and murder of her daughter. She had even discussed the inheritance issue with Sanjeev Khanna, who was her accomplice in the crime. However, Indrani was also concerned about the impact of the marriage on her own daughter, Vidhie, who might lose out on her share of the inheritance.

Peter Mukerjea, the former CEO of Star and Indrani's third husband, initially denied any involvement in Sheena's murder and claimed that he had no knowledge of Sheena being Indrani's daughter. He told the police that he was supportive of Sheena and Rahul's relationship and even provided emails between himself and his son as evidence. However, according to reports, Peter had allegedly told police commissioner Rakesh Maria that he suspected Indrani was plotting something.

It has been reported that Peter Mukerjea may have had another reason to be involved in his wife's plans. According to reports, the couple is alleged to have diverted money from their company through nine other firms and transferred it to Sheena Bora's HSBC account in Singapore without her knowledge.

Despite being in custody since 2015, Indrani Mukerjea maintains that Sheena was alive and studying overseas in 2012. However, she has not been able to provide any evidence to support her claims.