Mumbai: In the Sheena Bora murder case wherein her mother Indrani Mukerjea is the key accused, the CBI last week examined a panch witness, who was present as part of the police investigation when Indrani, after her arrest, allegedly revealed the plan to kill Sheena and her son Mikhail Bora in 2012.
However, the witness could not recollect several details since the panchnama was done on August 28, 2015, almost a decade ago. The prosecution hence was allowed to cross examine the witness.
In his testimony, he said he was introduced to Indrani by the investigating officer when he was called to act as a panch. The witness said he accompanied the investigators to a Worli shop, AM Motors, from where Indrani allegedly took a car on rent.
He claimed he accompanied the police to a shoe showroom from which Indrani allegedly purchased three pairs of chappals. Then they went to a shop from where she had purchased sarees, and then to a wine shop where she bought alcohol to be allegedly given to Mikhail. In the end, Indrani took the investigators to a medical shop from where she allegedly bought medicines.
In the said punchnama, according to the prosecution, Indrani revealed that she, her driver Shyamvar Rai, and exhusband Sanjeev Khana planned to eliminate Sheena by strangling her in the car; they allegedly planned to kill Mikhail by mixing medication in alcohol.
However, the defence, in the cross examination, alleged that the witness had deposed under pressure from the investigating agency. It was also noted that the witness had acted as panch in many cases; admittedly, he helped the police whenever he was called.
