CCTV footage shows Indrani took bag from a man, returned it on Mumbai court premises the day she fell ill

Indrani Mukerjea, an accused in the murder of Sheena Bora, is seen receiving a bag from a man and returning it later in the CCTV footage of the city civil and sessions court on April 6, the day she overdosed on drugs, said prison officials.

Mukerjea was found semi-conscious in her cell after returning from court and was admitted to the intensive care unit of JJ hospital later in the night. Doctors later confirmed she had overdosed on benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat of anxiety and insomnia.

A top source in the prison department that ordered an IG-level probe into the incident last week to check for lapses by jail staff said the CCTV footage shows three men approaching Mukerjea during lunch break.

“One of them was carrying a bag, which he gave to Mukerjea. After a while, she returned it to him,” said the source. “The probe is still on and is likely to get over in a week. Efforts are on to establish the identity of the three men.”

Sources said from the questioning so far, the probe team has learnt that Mukerjea ate pizza and paratha that day. While the pizza was brought by her husband and co-accused in the murder case, Peter Mukerjea, parathas were brought by a Bandra-based relative of Sanjeev Khanna, her first husband. “They ate together,” sources said.

Meanwhile, IG prisons, Rajvardhan Sinha, refused to comment on the CCTV findings, saying the report is yet to be submitted. “The statement is yet to be recorded,” he said.

Jail officials, meanwhile, said it is highly unlikely that Mukerjea got the drug in jail, given that medicines are administered by jail staff, who maintain reports in a diary. “The staff maintains a record of every inmate’s prescription. It is possible she got the drug outside,” said a senior jail official, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, security at Indrani’s cell in the Byculla jail has been stepped up after the incident.