Sheena Bora was allegedly strangled in a car by her mother Indrani Mukerjea. (File photo)
Jailed former media executive Indrani Mukerjea, accused of murdering her daughter Sheena Bora in 2012, has written to the CBI claiming she is alive and has asked the agency to investigate, adding a bizarre new twist to the sensational case.
Indrani Mukherjea claims she met a woman prisoner who told her she had met Sheena Bora in Kashmir, sources say, citing the letter sent directly to the CBI chief. "She wrote to the CBI, we have no details of what she wrote," said her lawyer Sana Khan on Thursday, adding that she will move a formal application for bail.
Indrani Mukherjea, 49, has been in the Byculla prison in Mumbai since 2015. She was arrested for the murder of 25-year-old Sheena Bora, her daughter from her first marriage, whom she had passed off as her sister for years.
Three months after her arrest, her now ex-husband Peter Mukerjea was also arrested on charges of helping Indrani.
Investigators are not taking her latest claim too seriously, sources say.
Investigators say Sheena Bora was murdered by Indrani Mukerjea, who was helped by her driver Shyamvar Rai and her second husband Sanjeev Khanna.
Indrani did it because she was enraged with Sheena over her relationship with Rahul Mukerjea - Peter Mukerjea's son from an earlier marriage - according to the CBI, which took over the case in late 2015 after months of investigation by the Mumbai police.
The CBI also said Sheena Bora had threatened to expose her mother after a financial dispute between them.
After the murder, Indrani allegedly told everyone that Sheena had moved to the US.
Three years on, the murder surfaced when Indrani Mukherjee's driver was arrested in a separate case.
Based on the driver's statement, Sheena's half-burnt body was dug up from a forest near Mumbai.
Some 60 witnesses have recorded their statements in the trial, which started in 2017.
While still in jail, Indrani and Peter Mukherjea ended their 17-year relationship and were granted a divorce in 2019. Peter Mukherjea was released on bail in 2020.