Sheena murder: Custody of accused extended till September 5

A Mumbai magistrate on Monday extended the police custody of Indrani Mukherjea and two other prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case till September 5.

Indrani, the victim's mother and wife of former media baron Peter Mukherjea, briefly fainted in the Bandra court room as the public prosecutor argued that their custody be further extended.

Indrani as well as her former driver Shyam Rai and her ex-husband, Kolkata-based Sanjeev Khanna, were in the court room when the ruling came. All three were driven to the Khar police station.

The public prosecutor said that investigators suspect the involvement of some others outside Maharashtra in the 2012 murder, and so further custodial interrogation of Indrani, Rai and Khanna was required.

The police also wanted to probe the exact motive behind Sheena's murder and were trying to ascertain where the accused dumped the victim's clothes, mobile phone and other belongings after the killing, the court was told.

Khanna's lawyer argued that the police were only awaiting the reports of the forensic tests, and there was no need to extend his police custody. He could be sent to judicial custody instead.

Indrani's lawyers alleged that the police were using pressure tactics to force a confession from her and that she was allegedly slapped while in custody.

As an army of journalists mobbed the court, her lawyers also said that Indrani had been interrogated for around 90 hours since her arrest here on August 25 and there was no need to question her any more.

After the police submitted the status report, the court extended the police custody of the three accused till September 5.

The first to be arrested in the case was driver Rai, followed by Indrani and Khanna.

Indrani is accused of killing her daughter Sheena in a moving car with help from Khanna and the driver. Her body was later set on fire and buried in a forested region of Raigad district near here.