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CBI to interrogate Indrani Mukerjea

Indrani, who had also started a television network a few years ago, is accused of murdering her daughter, Sheena, from an earlier marriage, along with her second husband Sanjeev on April 24, 2012.

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was granted permission by a local court here on Wednesday to interrogate Indrani Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Sham Rai in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case.
The court gave permission to the central agency to quiz the three accused persons till October 19, when their judicial custody ends. The CBI can later seek an extension if it needs further questioning is needed, said the court.
The Maharashtra government had last month abruptly transferred the probe into the murder case to the CBI after apparently bungling with the investigations. While the government transferred then Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria, who had taken a personal interest in the case and done most of the questioning of the accused (which was unusual for a police chief), the government later said Maria would continue to 'supervise' the probe, though he was shunted out of Mumbai police.
Later, the new police chief, Ahmed Javed, embarrassed the government by admitting that he had known former Star TV India boss Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani and had interacted with them socially.
Justifying the decision to take away the probe from the Mumbai police - which has a reputation for being one of the most efficient criminal investigation forces - an official spokesman had said that the government wanted a free and impartial investigation into the sensational case. The CBI was brought in as investigations had to be done in other states as well.
Indrani, who had also started a television network a few years ago, is accused of murdering her daughter, Sheena, from an earlier marriage, along with her second husband Sanjeev on April 24, 2012. Along with her former driver Shyam, she and Sanjeev are also accused of having disposed of her body in a forest about 100 km south of Mumbai. Last week, Indrani fell unconscious at the Arthur Road jail and was rushed to the JJ hospital, with the authorities suspecting her of having overdosed on medicines. On Tuesday, Indrani was transferred back to the jail. She told the police that she had not tried to kill herself and that she had a similar incident of blackout a few years ago.
nithin@khaleejtimes.com