Indrani Mukerjea changes stand, finally admits to role in murder

MUMBAI: After remaining mum for nearly a week, Indrani Mukerjea, the main accused in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, has finally confessed. Sources close to the investigation confirmed that Indrani, who who broke down on Monday after briefly meeting her other daughter Vidhie at Bandra court, has admitted to her role in the crime. Till recently, she had been maintaining Sheena was very much alive and in the US.

"There are a few discrepancies in her story and we are now piecing together the jigsaw of the roles of each of the three accused," said an officer.

The development comes soon after she was produced along with her two accomplices—ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and former driver Shyamvar Rai—before the metropolitan magistrate for extension of police custody. Indrani, who also met her lawyers and Vidhie, is believed to have learnt that her co-accused have already confessed to their part in the crime.

However, she refused to admit that she had any plans to kill Michail, or revealed the motive for killing Sheena. "While she has admitted to the crime she has not given us any particular motive behind the murder. She is in our custody for three more days and we hope to learn everything by then," added the officer.

Police are likely to record her husband Peter Mukerjea's statement by Thursday and also bring Indrani face-to-face with him to extract more information. Last week Peter's preliminary statement was recorded and police are yet to record his detailed statement, which police said will help them join the dots of the crime.

A Mumbai Police team, currently in Kolkata, will bring Siddharth Das to Mumbai for a DNA test to establish the identity of the remains recovered from Raigad. Das, believed to be Indrani's first husband, claimed in TV interviews on Tuesday that he was Indrani's live-in partner and fathered both Sheena and Michail. The skull believed to be of Sheena, has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory and Das's DNA will be matched with it. However, police said they are yet to recover the Opel Corsa car used in the crime.

Meanwhile police commissioner Rakesh Maria, who is supervising the investigations, has reportedly warned all cops not to reveal anything to the media at this stage as it will hamper the investigation. "It's a very sensitive case and any misinformation appearing in the print or electronic media will lead to acquittal of the accused and the case will go for a toss. Once a few things are clear I will speak to media, but if anything is revealed earlier I will see to it that departmental action is taken against the officer," Maria has reportedly told officers. Sources said Maria was also upset over the fact that the media was tracking the people involved in the case before cops could do so. On Tuesday, the electronic media traced Das whom police had failed to find so far. The media also traced Michail long before the police.