Byculla Jail rioting case against Indrani, others handed to Crime branch

Indrani Mukerjea. File pic/PTI

The case of rioting against Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, and some 200 other inmates of Byculla women's prison in central Mumbai, has been handed over to the Mumbai crime branch.

Sanjay Saxena, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime), said yesterday that the crime branch had taken over the case from Nagpada police station. Mukerjea, who is 'accused no 1' in this case, instigated other inmates to rioting after the death of a convict, the police had claimed earlier.

The 44-year-old former media executive was among the nearly 200 inmates of the Byculla Jail booked by the Nagpada police for rioting and other offences after they staged a protest over the death of convict Manju Govind Shette. Shette (45) died at the government-run J J Hospital on the night of June 23 after allegedly being beaten up by jail officials.

The next day, enraged women inmates rose in protest, some of them went up to the prison's roof, while others made a bonfire of newspapers and documents on the premises to express their anger, a police official said. The inmates alleged that Shette was mercilessly beaten up by the woman prison official which led to her death. Indrani instigated the inmates, police had claimed.

Six jail personnel were suspended in connection with Shette's death. They were arrested on Saturday on the charge of murder. Indrani, lodged in the prison after her arrest in August 2015, and the other inmates were booked for rioting, unlawful assembly, assault on public servant and other relevant sections of the IPC.

The jail houses 251 inmates. Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and ex-driver Shyamvar Rai are accused of killing 24-year-old Sheena, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, on April 24, 2012.