Mumbai : In what might be the worst kept secrets in the sensation-al Sheena Bora murder case, unnamed police sources on Monday claimed that the DNA samples of skeletal remains exhumed from the Raigad forest match with those of Indrani Mukerjea and Mikhail Bora: This could be the turning point in a case that was largely hinging on circumstantial evidence and confessions.
For Indrani, too, the day was embedded with possibilities: the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in Bandra has remanded the former TV honcho and her driver Shyam Rai, who has allegedly confessed to his role in the killing, to judicial custody till September 21. The duo was produced before the court as the mandatory period of police custody ended on September 7.
Soon afterwards, Indrani and Rai were sent to Byculla Jail, where they will be lodged for a fortnight. However, Indrani’s counsel Gunjan Mangla said they are contemplating filing a bail application in the coming week.
An accused can file a bail application anytime during the period of judicial custody. The magistrate, after hearing the application, gives reasonable time to the prosecution to file an objection and then passes an order on the same.
With Indrani now in judicial custody, the police won’t have the same kind of access as they had while she was lodged in the lock-up of Khar Police Station. She, too, can communicate with the investigators only through legal representatives.
However, unlike police custody, which can’t be extended beyond a fortnight, under Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if need be, for the purpose of further investigation, the period of judicial remand can be extended at any given time for a period of 14 days, except in crimes of a special nature. Meanwhile, the other accused in the case and Indrani’s ex-husband, Sanjeev Khanna, was placed in one-day police remand and has been taken to Kolkata, where he’ll be produced in a court.
According to Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria… DNA report conclusively proves the accused Indrani is biological mother of the deceased Sheena Bora, Police have recovered part of jewellery of Sheena.
