A year after Sheena Bora murder came to light, motive remains elusive

Its been a year since the sensational Sheena Bora murder case burst on the national scene straight out of an Agatha Christie thriller While much has been said and speculated about why the young woman was killed by her mother once a top media honcho the motive behind the gruesome act remains unclear leaving investigators perplexedIt was on the cool rainy evening of August 25 2015 when the Mumbai police swooped on former highprofile media baroness Indrani Mukerjea the wife of exmedia tycoon Peter Mukerjea and arrested her in connection with the killing of her 24yearold daughter SheenaSheena Bora and Rahul Mukerjea File picsAn executive working with Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd Sheena had suddenly gone missing on April 24 2012 but Indrani claimed she had moved abroad for studies and the matter was forgottenIt was only after Indranis exdriver Shyamvar Pinturam Rai who was arrested three days before her on August 21 2015 spilled the beans on the threeyearold crime that the entire sordid saga resembling a torrid teleserial tumbled out shocking the countryImmediately after Indranis arrest her former husband Sanjeev Khanna was arrested from Kolkata Almost three months later on November 19 2015 even her current husband Peter Mukerjea was nabbed in the caseAfter alleged delays on the part of Mumbai police in probing the matter the Maharashtra government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation CBIIndrani MukerjeaA year into the investigations the sleuths are yet to zero in on the exact motive behind Sheenas murder though various angles are being probed including financial deals and possible moneylaunderingShocking details unearthed during the probe into the highprofile case left the entire nation dumbfoundedBorn out of Indranis earlier relationship with Siddhartha Das in Shillong Sheena and her brother Mikhail were virtually abandoned by their mother and raised by their grandparents in Guwahati and later KolkataIn fact till a couple of days after her arrest Indrani who had since married twice had passed off Sheena as her younger sister for reasons still unclearOn April 24 2012 Sheena took leave from her company emailed her resignation and even broke up with her boyfriend Rahul Mukerjea who was actually her stepbrother as it later emerged Indrani subsequently informed the family that Sheena had left for the US to pursue higher studiesNo missing person report was lodged though Sheena was never seen after April 24 that yearVaguely suspecting something was amiss her brother Mikhail questioned Indrani why Sheena had suddenly left for the US without any intimation and later claimed his mother was even conspiring to eliminate himIncidentally perhaps unknown to Indrani she was under police surveillance after a tipoff that she could be involved in Sheenas disappearance and the subsequent arrest of Rai in a weapons case proved a clincherIt was Rais statement and detailed investigations which brought out the stunning truth how Sheena was kidnapped drugged killed her body burnt and disposed off in a suitcase in the forests of Raigad around 95 kms south of MumbaiAccording to police investigations that fateful evening Khanna flew to Mumbai and lived at Hotel Hilltop in Worli Indrani hired a car picked up Khanna and asked the reluctant Sheena to meet her at Linking Road in Bandra where Mikhail had dropped herDuring the drive Sheena was allegedly strangled by Khanna and her body was taken to Indranis Worli home where they put it in a large bag and stuffed it in the vehicles trunkThat same night they drove off from Worli to Gagode village in Raigad with Sheenas body propped between Indrani and Khanna to avoid police suspicion at checkpostsAt a prerecced isolated spot in the thick forests they dragged out Sheenas body again stuffed it into the bag poured petrol and set it ablaze in the early hours of April 26 They then dumped the burnt bag with the body in some thick bushes and returned to MumbaiIt was only on May 23 2012 when local villagers complained of a foul smell emanating from a particular spot in the forests that the Raigad police found Sheenas body but it was not properly recorded till more than three years till August 2015 That police lapse was subject of a separate probeLater in 2015 the police took Indrani Khanna and Rai to the spot from where Sheenas skeletal remains were retrieved and sent to Sir JJ Hospital where a series of forensic and DNA tests helped establish the victims identityNearly a year after the four prime accused Indrani Khanna Mukerjea and Rai were taken into custody a ray of hope came for the investigators in the form of the driver Rai who bargained for a pardon in return for turning approverA Special CBI Court granted his plea and on June 20 Rai was made an approverHis recorded statement of November 16 2015 lifted the curtain on actually how he Rai had gagged Sheena Khanna held her hands and hair while Indrani pinned down her daughter and strangled her to deathLittle must have Indrani and her accomplices expected that a lowpaid family retainer like Rai could pave the way for their nemesis and walk away with a pardon in the tragic drama