CBI names Rakesh Maria, a former senior officer in Mumbai, and 22 other people as “unrelied” witnesses in the Sheena Bora case

A list of 23 witnesses that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would not be questioning has been provided in support of former media executive Indrani Mukerjea and other defendants in the death of her daughter Sheena Bora.

Rakesh Maria, the former commissioner of police in Mumbai, and other police officers were included in the list that was handed to a special CBI court here on Thursday. The agency claiming to be among the “unrelied witnesses” on the list said that they would not be questioned during the trial.

Sheena Bora, Indrani’s daughter from her previous marriage, was killed, and she is suspected of having a hand in the murders of both her former husbands, Peter Mukerjea and Sanjeev Khanna.

On April 24, 2012, Sheena, 24, was slain in what is believed to have been a plot with Peter Mukerjea by her mother Indrani, driver Shyamvar Rai, and Khanna.

However, the murder was not made public until 2015, when Rai was detained in connection with another case by the Mumbai police. Maria had overseen the investigation while serving as the local police commissioner at the time. Later, the CBI was given the case.

Earlier in the year, Indrani had asked the court to order the CBI to provide a list of the witnesses it planned to question.

The agency had provided a list of the ninety-two witnesses who will be questioned in April. Vidhi Mukerjea, the daughter of Indrani and Peter, was not included. Additionally, her name was absent from the list that the CBI sent in on Thursday.

Given that Vidhi’s testimony is included in the CBI’s chargesheet for the case, it is unclear whether she will be questioned by the agency about her mother.

In addition to Maria, the other individuals on the list of “unrelied witnesses” include Dinesh Kadam, the City Police’s investigative officer; Satyanarayan Chaudhary, the Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order); Zone 9 DCP; and prison officers S S Wagh and Supriya Channey.

Previously, shortly after Indrani’s detention, her attorneys had said that Maria was being implicated in the inquiry and had meddled in it.

Given that Indrani would not be completing his trial anytime soon and that six and a half years in jail was an excessive sentence, the Supreme Court granted bail to him in May 2022.