SHEENA BORA

MURDER CASE
 INTRODUCTION
Sheena Das Bora and brother Mikhail were born
to Pori Bora (later known as Indrani Mukerjea),
an Indian HR consultant and media executive,
and Siddhartha Das in 1987
in Shillong, Meghalaya. Indrani left the children
under the care of her parents in Guwahati and
moved to Kolkata. There she studied computers
and stayed as a paying guest. Sheena and her
brother were subsequently raised in the city
of Guwahati by their maternal grandparents.
In Kolkata, Indrani married Sanjeev Khanna and Indrani Mukerjea & Sheena Bora
the couple had a daughter. They divorced in
2002, and Indrani married Peter Mukerjea.
When Sheena Bora learned about her mother
and moved to Mumbai in 2006, Indrani
introduced her as her younger sister. Sheena was
admitted to St. Xavier's College where she
obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (2006-2009).
In 2009, she joined Reliance Infrastructure as a
management trainee. In June 2011, Sheena
joined Mumbai Metro One as an assistant Sanjeev Khanna & Peter Mukerjea
manager.
Sheena Bora, was an executive
working for Mumbai Metro
One based in Mumbai. She went
missing on 24 April 2012. In August
2015 Mumbai Police arrested her
mother Indrani Mukerjea, her
stepfather Sanjeev Khanna, and her
mother's driver, Shyamvar Pinturam
Rai, for allegedly abducting and
killing her and subsequently burning
her corpse. Khanna and Rai
confessed to the crime, and
Mukerjea has said that Sheena Bora
is living in the United States.
 DISAPPEARANCE
On 24 April 2012, Sheena took a leave of absence and "sent in
her written resignation". On the same day, Rahul Mukerjea
(Sheena's step-brother who she was dating) received
a breakup SMS from Sheena's phone. Her mother, Indrani, said
that Sheena had gone to the United States for higher studies
and hence a missing First Information Report was never filed.
Sheena was never seen after 24 April 2012.
On Rahul's insistence, police visited Indrani's residence where
they were informed by the staff that Indrani was out of India.
Upon her return, Indrani visited the Worli police station and
informed the police that Rahul was trying to stalk Sheena and
that was why Sheena had moved to the United States without
informing him.
On 23 May 2012, local police in Pen tehsil, Raigad found a body
after villagers complained of a foul odor. No identification was
made and the remains were sent to JJ Hospital in Mumbai. No
link was made with the Sheena Bora case.
 DISCOVERY OF DEATH &
SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION

Four months before her arrest, Mumbai

police commenced surveillance of Indrani.
The surveillance was initiated after a tip-
off. Shyamvar Pinturam Rai, Indrani's
driver, was arrested on 21 August 2015 for
possession of illegal weapons and it was
alleged that, during his interrogation, he
revealed details of Sheena Bora's murder.
On 26 August 2015, Sheena's brother
Mikhail revealed that she was Indrani's
daughter rather than sister.
Quoting the First
Information Report filed by
Mumbai police,
the Hindustan Times
reported that Rai had given
a detailed account of the
murder to police. It was
Rai's allegation that Indrani
had planned it and had
discussed it with her ex-
husband, Sanjeev Khanna.
He alleged that Indrani had
surveyed a likely area to
dump the body the evening
before the murder.
On 24 April 2012, Khanna had
flown to Mumbai and checked
into the Hotel Hilltop at Worli.
Rai alleged that Indrani had
rented an Opel Corsa to
facilitate abduction of Sheena
and for disposal of her body.
Indrani, he claimed, had earlier
asked Sheena to meet her on
the evening of 24 April 2012
and, though reluctant, she had
agreed.
At about 18:00 hours on 24 April
2012, he went on, Indrani was
joined by her ex-husband at his
hotel in Worli. An hour later, when
Sheena was dropped off by Rahul
Mukerjea near National College
on Linking Road in Bandra, Indrani,
Sanjeev and driver Rai were there
to meet her. Rai's account
continued, alleging that Indrani sat
next to him while Sheena was in the
rear seat with Khanna. He said they
took her to one of the by-lanes
in Bandra and Khanna strangled her.
The police claimed that, after the
murder, Sheena's body was taken to
Indrani's house on Worli where it was
put in a bag and stuffed in the trunk
of the car.
Rai alleged that Khanna later left for
his hotel while Indrani stayed home
and Rai slept inside the car with the
body in the trunk. In the early hours
of 25 April 2012, he said, the three
accused drove to the village of
Gagode in Pen tehsil, Raigad.
Concerned about the possibility of
police checks, they propped Sheena's
body up between Indrani and Khanna
on the rear seat, as if asleep, rather
than putting it in the boot.
At 04:00 hours on 25
April 2012, police
alleged, they dragged the
body out of the car in an
isolated spot in the
forest, stuffed it back
into the bag, poured
petrol over it and set it
ablaze. After the body
was completely burnt,
the accused returned to
Mumbai. Khanna left
Mumbai later that day.
 CONFESSION
It was not until Shyamvar Pinturam
Rai, Indrani’s driver, was taken into
custody on August 21, 2015 for
possession of illegal weapons that he
revealed the details of Sheena’s
Murder during investigation by
the police.The work of forensic team
in this case to collect evidence from a
body which was ignored for 3 years
and from the forest has been deemed
exceptional. Indrani Mukerjea
introduced Sheena as her daughter to
her second husband’s family. It was
only after Sheena’s death
investigation it was found out that
she is Indrani’s daughter after a DNA
match was done.
 Forensic Science in
investigation & Highlights
The investigation team reached the spot
where the body was burned after being
led over there by Shyam and the
villagers. At the place Sheena Bora’s
body was dumped, the police recovered
some bones, a skull and a suitcase. They
were not able to extract DNA from the
molars but from   long piece of femur
bone. The DNA profiles were checked and
re-checked thrice using different
approaches to weed out any error.
Usually, after being burned and being left
in the open to environmental
degradation, it’s not easy to determine
the DNA but one of the experts explained
how due to location and weather
condition, the DNA sample survived
otherwise if the DNA was contaminated,
the acquired result would be incomplete.
The skull found was estimated to be of a
female aged 22-25 years. Height estimate
from the long bone (femur) was between
153-160 cm. DNA markers were found to
be matching between Sheena and Indrani
confirming the relationship. The Forensic
Science Laboratory (FSL) has also put to
rest speculations about Mikhail Bora’s
maternity by concluding that he is
Indrani’s son. It was not just the forensic
evidence which supports the case but also
the communication which happened
between the suspect and police while
cross examining them.
When Sheena first went missing and
people enquired about her
whereabouts, Indrani told them that
she has shifted to USA but during
investigation the police found
Sheena’s passport in Rahul’s Dehradun
House. Now as per Indrani’s claim, if
Sheena is in US then how come her
passport is here, in India. If that’s not
all the police have also come to the
conclusion that Sheena’s signature
was forged on her resignation letter
and to the landlord by Indrani’s
secretary. The resignation letter was
received by her company on 25th but
since she was killed on 24th how was it
possible, not even that the letter was
received by mail and not in person.
Sheena was on leave while the letter
mailed.
ARREST & JUDGEMENT
On 25 August 2015, Mumbai police arrested Indrani
Mukerjea accusing her of murdering Sheena Bora.
Indrani was charged under sections 302 (murder),
201 (disposing evidence or giving false statements),
363 (kidnapping) and 34 (common intention) of
the Indian Penal Code and taken to the
Bandra Metropolitan Magistrates' court, which
remanded her in police custody. On 26 August 2015
Indrani's ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna was also
arrested in Kolkata and charged under sections 364
(kidnapping), 302 (murder), 201 (causing
disappearance of evidence) and 120-B (conspiracy)
of the Indian Penal Code in the same case. Sanjeev
allegedly confessed to the offences charged. Peter
Mukerjea was arrested on 19 November 2015, on
charges related to Sheena Bora's murder and was
also accused of siphoning company funds into a bank
account in Sheena Bora's name in Singapore.