A major question is why Peter, who was questioned on several occasions by the Mumbai police, was not arrested then and what the CBI has found that the Mumbai police did not. Peter's son Rahul, too, was being grilled by the CBI late on Thursday night.
In a surprise development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested former TV honcho Peter Mukerjea in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case. The arrest came within hours after a charge sheet was filed by the agency against his wife Indrani Mukerjea and two others.
A major question is why Peter, who was questioned on several occasions by the Mumbai police, was not arrested then and what the CBI has found that the Mumbai police did not. Peter's son Rahul, too, was being grilled by the CBI late on Thursday night.
CBI spokesperson Devpreet Singh said that Peter had been arrested and will be produced in the court on Friday. She, however, refused to divulge details, citing the sensitivity of the case and the advanced nature of investigations.
According to sources, Indrani had spoken about Peter's involvement in the case during her sustained interrogations. Following this, a CBI team had questioned Peter on two occasions. “During questioning, Peter continued to give contradictory claims. We then arrested him to verify the claims,” said a CBI officer, refusing to divulge the claims made by Peter.
It is believed that the financial angle in the case could be one of the reasons that led to Peter's arrest. The probe had earlier revealed that, through one of Peter's business deals, crores of rupees were parked in Sheena's bank account, which she was not willing to part with.
The transactions show that Rs 87 crore was taken as a loan by the couple but only half the money was used to purchase shares of INX Media Pvt Ltd, which both of them owned at the time of incorporation in 2007.
By 2012, a few months after Sheena’s alleged murder on April 24, INX Media is shown having paid ‘one of its directors’ (Only Peter and Indrani were the directors) Rs 87 crore masqueraded as a ‘loss on the share’ of the company. This came just after Sheena’s alleged murder, but at a time when the business transactions should have been revealed as a gain rather than a ‘loss’.
Indrani had told the police that she was against Sheena's relationship with Peter's son Rahul. CBI sources also stated that the claim made by Peter that he was unaware that Sheena was Indrani's daughter and not a sister was “unbelievable”, despite it being revealed to him by Rahul and Sheena herself. Agency sources said that, last week, many properties owned by Peter in Mumbai were raided.
Peter's lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said he was surprised at the CBI move. "I have been texting him and my last contact was well past 7.30 pm when he informed me that he was being questioned by the CBI and he would contact me later," he said.
“It's a serious question to ponder why the Mumbai police did not arrest Peter. He was under suspicion right from day one and they could have arrested him for custodial interrogation. The Mumbai police definitely will have to answer it,” said former Indian Police Service officer and lawyer Y P Singh.
“I am not sure whether the Mumbai police were shielding Peter, but it is clear that proper steps of interrogation were not followed even though he was under suspicion,” he said.
The Mumbai police had maintained that Peter was never given a clean chit.
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