Indrani Mukerjea (File) FORMER MEDIA executive Indrani Mukerjea has levelled allegations that the CBI is ‘afraid’ to record the statement of a suspended policewoman, who had claimed to have seen her daughter Sheena Bora alive as it would expose its ‘shoddy investigation’.
Mukerjea had claimed that Maharashtra Police personnel Asha Korke, who was lodged with her in Byculla jail, had told her that she had seen Sheena alive in 2021 while on a vacation to Kashmir.
She had written to the CBI director in November seeking an investigation on the claims and had also applied to the special CBI court to know what action the agency had taken after her letter.
The CBI termed her claim ‘imaginary’ and said that it was ‘next to impossible’ that Sheena is alive.
Mukerjea has been behind bars since 2015 facing charges of murdering Sheena in 2012.
“It is only evident that CBI is afraid to interview Ms Korke as the facts will unfold the second rate and manipulated investigation conducted by the CBI and the malafide conduct of the investigating team of the agency will come to the fore establishing that the case against the applicant is false and concocted,” Mukerjea’s rejoinder filed before the special CBI court on Thursday through lawyer Sana Raees Khan states.
Mukerjea has denied CBI’s claim that the plea was filed to delay the trial stating that the trial has been at a halt for the past two years.
“It is preposterous to claim that the intent is malafide when the applicant has rightfully informed the CBI and the court when she has received information regarding her daughter, Sheena Bora from Ms Asha Korke,” the rejoinder states.
Mukerjea has also attached testimonies of witnesses including a DNA expert and accused turned approver Shyamvar Rai. She claims that medical and scientific evidence produced before the court éxonerates her and exposes CBI’s ‘shoddy investigation’. Mukerjea claimed that Rai’s testimony is doubtful.
“The CBI is misleading this Honourable Court by accusing the applicant of cooking up a false story and by undermining and discrediting the claims of Ms Asha Korke without speaking to her and checking on the facts… it is highly preposterous to place reliance of on the çooked up story of Shyamvar Rai over the true claim of Korke who has served in the Maharashtra police for 25 years… It is unfortunate that CBI has chosen to rely upon an untruthful driver over a dedicated officer from the police force,” her rejoinder says.
It adds that while the CBI is not bound to examine any such witness, who claims to have seen Sheena alive in 2021 but to say that Korke is making false claims without examining her is unprofessional conduct and unfair from an agency, which is mandated to be fair.
CBI in its reply to Mukerjea’s plea had said that oral, documentary and scientific evidence had shown that Sheena was murdered by Mukerjea. It also said that scientific evidence showed the DNA extracted from the remains exhumed in 2015 to match that of Mukerjea.
The court will hear arguments from both sides on March 17.
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