27 November,2015 07:11 AM IST | | Shantanu Guha Ray
Sources said Indrani Mukerjea visited the station in July 2012 with a teenager posing as Sheena Bora to get a document verified for closing the lease of the Andheri flat the latter had rented
The Central Bureau of Investigation could call the Tardeo police for questioning as it has found that either Peter or Indrani or both had visited the police station soon after Sheena Bora's death to get documents verified for cancellation of the rent agreement of the MIDC flat she had rented with Rahul Mukerjea.
Also Read: 'Sheena has been taken away from Rahul's clutches'
Sources said the CBI has found that Indrani presented a young woman as Sheena to the cops, along with two witnesses on July 21, 2012
Sources said the CBI has found that Indrani presented a young woman as Sheena to the cops, along with two witnesses on July 21, 2012. CBI officials had earlier found that the letter to Dominic Mekdo, the owner of the flat in Andheri (east), on behalf of Sheena to cancel the leave and licence agreement was forged.
To bolster her case, Indrani went to the Tardeo Police Station with a teenager impersonating Sheena and two other teenagers who signed as witnesses, the CBI sources said. Sub-inspector, SG Chavan, completed the formalities and the woman impersonating as Sheena signed the letter to Mekdo in Chavan's presence, said a source.
Read Story: Peter, Indrani siphoned off money to foreign accounts in Sheena's name: CBI
The CBI is expected to question policemen from the station and will also identify the person posing as Sheena Bora. When mid-day contacted Senior Police Inspector Nagesh Jadhav, Tardeo police station, he said, "I am on leave but still I have checked with the police station that there wasn't any such officer or constable attached with Tardeo police station in 2012."
Sources in the Khar police, which first investigated the case before it was handed over to the CBI, contested the claim and said that even their investigation had revealed the same details.
More trouble for Mumbai cops
The agency believes several other officers of the Mumbai police provided "considerable help" to the couple post Sheena's disappearance. "The couple were thinking like cops and acting like thieves. They had solid support from the Mumbai Police," a CBI officer said on condition of anonymity.
Joint Commissioner Deven Bharti is among those questioned by the CBI, which will make him a witness in the case. According to the agency, Indrani and Peter approached Bharti to trace Sheena's cell location. Tracing cell phone locations or accessing call data records cannot be done without a formal complaint and due permission from senior officers.
Meanwhile, the agency seems to be struggling to find evidence to implicate the former media baron in the murder case. Sources admitted that the case against Peter is veering towards just money laundering charges, ostensibly because a significant portion of cash was allegedly laundered abroad, mainly in Singapore, as first reported by this paper.
On top of the pile is a R900-crore transaction conducted by Indrani and Peter in an account in HSBC Singapore that the couple opened in Sheena's name. The CBI feels details of the account are not available and Peter needs to be grilled further to find out about the source of the cash and its movement (i.e., from where did the money come into the account of Sheena, whose salary was considerably low to manage such huge balances).
Also Read: Sheena Bora murder: CBI seeks Interpol help, Peter Mukerjea's custody extended
There are chances that CBI officials could call HSBC officials in Mumbai for questioning. Top sources added that Mukerjea has confessed to his interrogators that his relationship with Indrani was on the wane after the latter refused to part with a large chunk of money she received from her husband for secured investments like real estate, bonds and even imported wines.
"It was the cash - estimated to be around R200 crore - that Peter required for a digital media venture he was contemplating setting up with two former editors from Delhi. He even had a series of meetings with them," the source said.
Indrani's refusal to part with the cash caused friction between the two. Peter, whose custody has been extended by a city court, will be grilled further, said the CBI officers who twice rejected the former media baron's demand for outside food.
"Food from a canteen close to the (Delhi) Mantralaya is being given to Peter. Doctors in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital and Mumbai's JJ Hospital have found him in perfect health," the source said.
