MUMBAI: Vidhie Mukerjea on Tuesday denied her statements recorded by the Khar police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with Sheena Bora murder case, in which her mother, Indrani Mukerjea, is one of the accused. Vidhie also disowned her own book, ‘Devil’s Daughter’, claiming it was the result of “wrong influence” and false media reports about her mother, a former media executive.
Replying to questions put to her during cross-examination by defence lawyer, Ranjit Sangle, the 28-year-old told special CBI judge Dr JP Darekar that at the relevant time, she was “bombarded with lies and false accusations” against her mother by Rahul Mukerjea, her step-brother and son of former media executive Pritam aka Peter Mukerjea. Peter had married Indrani after she divorced her husband, Sanjeev Khanna in 2000.
Vidhie, daughter of Indrani and Sanjeev Khanna, said she “wrote down” a book titled ‘Devil’s Daughter’ during the traumatic and disastrous time, under the wrong influence of the false accusations and false media reports. She said she did not stand by the contents of the book, published in 2021. She added that she would not have written the book if she could go back in time.
During the cross-examination, she also alleged that Peter Mukerjea’s sons from his previous marriage – Rahul and Rabin – had siphoned off ancestral jewellery belonging to her mother, Indrani, worth crores of rupees, and over ₹7 crore from the bank accounts and lockers held jointly with Peter Mukerjea, her ex-husband.
Vidhie added that immediately after the arrest of Indrani and Peter in the Sheena Bora murder case, both Rahul and Rabin were in dire need of money and therefore they had siphoned off Indrani’s ancestral jewellery and cash from her joint account, and this was the “motive” to falsely implicate her mother (Indrani) in the “false case”. She said she, however, did not know how they acquired the bank details and passwords etc to gain access.
During her examination-in-chief by public prosecutor CJ Nandode, Vidhie denied her statements recorded by the Khar police and later by the CBI, claiming that her formal statements were never recorded by the investigating agencies.
Sheena Bora, 24, was allegedly strangled inside a car in April 2012 by Indrani Mukerjea, with the help of her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyamvar Rai. Her body was allegedly burnt and dumped in a forested part of Raigad district the next day.
The crime came to light in 2015, when Rai was arrested for alleged possession of an illegal firearm. During his interrogation by the Khar police he confessed to his involvement in Sheena’s murder. Following his confession, Indrani and Khanna were arrested in August 2015, and Peter Mukerjea was taken into custody three months later after the case was taken over by the CBI.
In its chargesheet, the CBI alleged that Indrani was opposed to Sheena’s relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, Peter’s son from a previous marriage, fearing a potential property dispute. In 2017, Shyamvar Rai, Indrani’s driver who later turned approver in the case, had told the court that Indrani had asked him to add the medicines to the liquor and water bottle that she allegedly gave Sheena.