Mumbai : The Sheena Bora murder case hinges on DNA evidence, which may not be 100% accurate and stand the rigours of court scrutiny. The case, therefore, remains largely circumstantial and based on ‘confessions’ of Indrani Mukherjea and the driver, which can be retracted in the court.
In what could take the probe forward, a team of Mumbai Police had rushed to Pen and after rummaging through the crime spot, it has been able to exhume some body parts. If these remains are indeed that of Sheena, the case against Indrani Mukerjea, step-father Sanjeev Khanna and Indrani’s driver would be far stronger that it is right now.
The police also collected a few remnants of bones from J. J. Hospital, where these were sent in May 2012, a month after Sheena’s body was burnt and dumped in the Raigad forests. “The hospital had sent its report in 2013 saying it cannot determine the age, sex or cause of death on the basis of the bones sent by the Pen police,” Hospital Dean Dr T P Lahane told PTI.
“Today, the Khar police came to the hospital and collected the bones from us”, Lahane said declining to make any further comment when
asked whether the samples could be vital forensic evidence in the case.
Speaking to FJP, senior crime lawyer Abbas Kazmi said, “There may be still some margin of error in the forensic report as the body remains that have been reportedly recovered by the police are about three years old.”
The police are also yet to recover the weapon used to kill Sheena and the vehicle in which she was allegedly whisked away before being murdered near Land’s End in Bandra. The body kept lying in the car which was allegedly parked at the Mukherjea residence overnight before being driven to Pen.
The remains of Sheena’s body, stuffed in a suitcase, were sighted by local villagers a month after the murder, but the local cops failed to show the due diligence and buried the remains without conducting a forensic examination.
Also, for some inexplicable reason, no accidental death report was registered, which is unusual in such cases of unclaimed body parts. In this matter, the role of the local cops is under the scanner.
On Thursday, after securing Indrani’s ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna’s remand, the police drove him to the forests near Pen where Sheena’s body was burnt and dumped on April 24, 2012.
Senior lawyer Advocate Ashok Sarogi also said that the case is not strong enough, as it is only based on circumstantial evidence. “The driver’s confession is not of much importance.’’
