Receptionist says Sanjeev Khanna stayed in hotel day Sheen Bora was killed

The employee of the hotel where Indrani Mukerjea’s former husband Sanjeev Khanna stayed on the night of Sheena Bora’s murder identified him in court on Wednesday.

The receptionist, Minquen D’souza, was examined as the twenty-second witness by the prosecution on Wednesday. On the basis of the hotel’s register, D’souza told the court that Khanna had arrived at the hotel on April 24, 2012, and left by early morning on April 25, 2012.

As per the prosecution’s case, Mukerjea, Khanna, and the driver Shyamwar Rai had killed Bora in the car on the evening of April 24. The next day they dumped her body in a bag near Pen village in Raigad. The bag was later burnt to destroy any evidence.

Following D’Souza’s testimony, the prosecution pointed out that Khanna had left from the hotel at 4am on April 25, 2012. The register also reflected the check-out time. The prosecution’s claim is that Khanna after checking out from the hotel had gone with Mukerjea and Rai to dispose of Bora’s body.

The claim has been contested by the defence and Khanna did not deny that he stayed at the hotel. He did, however, deny his role in the murder and claims he never met Mukerjea, either on the evening of April 24, 2012, or in the morning of April 25, 2012.

D’souza was cross-examined by Khanna’s lawyers Niranjan Mundargi and Shreyansh Mithare. The receptionist revealed that he did not write down Khanna’s check-out time, nor did he witness it being noted down in the hotel ledger.

D’souza also told the court that while he had prepared the bill, he now does not remember if Khanna had left from the hotel early in the morning or later. However, the witness claimed that he had prepared the bill at night before Khanna checked-out.

First Published: Nov 01, 2018 09:32 IST