Sheena Bora murder case: Here's all you need to know

The 2012 high-profile murder case of Sheena Bora took a fresh turn when it was found on December 16 that former media personality and murder-accused Indrani Mukerjea, in a letter to the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last month, has claimed that her daughter Sheena was alive and is currently in Kashmir.

Here's a look at the significant developments in the case over the years:

In April 2012, 24-year-old Sheena Bora was allegedly strangled in a car by Indrani Mukerjea, her then driver Shyamvar Rai and her former husband Sanjeev Khanna. Her body was later found in a forest in Raigad district where it was reportedly burnt.

Also read: In a big twist, Indrani Mukerjea says Sheena Bora alive

The killing came to light three years later, in 2015, when Shyamwar, who had helped dispose of the body, was arrested in another case. Rai later turned an approver in the Sheena Bora case. Thereafter, Indrani was arrested in August.

Former media baron and Indrani's husband Peter Mukerjea was also later arrested on November 19, 2015, for allegedly being part of the conspiracy. After spending more than four years behind bars, Mukerjea was granted bail by the Bombay High Court in 2020. His 17-year-old marriage to Indrani Mukerjea ended during the period of incarceration as the two got divorced in October last year.

What was the motive?

Sheena was in a live-in relationship with her step-brother Rahul, the younger son of Peter Mukerjea with his first wife Shabnam Singh. According to the CBI, Peter, Indrani and Sanjeev entered into a criminal conspiracy to kill Sheena in April 2012. Financial disputes as well as Indrani's opposition to Sheena's relationship with Rahul were key motives for the killing, the agency said.

Other twists in the case

Reports suggest that in the beginning, Indrani maintained Sheena has gone to the United States for higher studies and accused Rahul of stalking Sheena. It has also been claimed that on the day of her "disappearance", Sheena submitted her resignation letter and a "break-up text" to Rahul was sent from her phone.

Later, according to reports, after learning that her partners in the crime, ex-husband Sanjeev and driver have confessed their role in the killing, Indrani in 2016 broke down during interrogation and admitted her role in killing her daughter Sheena.

Indrani, on several other occasions, has claimed that her daughter is alive and has only talked in terms of "abduction" and "disappearance" when referring to the case. Though she did not expressly accuse Peter, in 2017, she had alleged that he might have caused her daughter's disappearance out of "greed and ill-will".

Indrani is likely to move an application regarding claims of her daughter being alive before the special CBI court on December 28, the next date of hearing in her case, her lawyer said.

(With agency inputs)