A special CBI court on Wednesday rejected the interim plea of Sanjeev Khanna, one of the alleged killers of Sheena Bora.
Khanna, former husband of Sheena’s mother Indrani Mukerjea had approached the special court for interim bail on May 14 citing the spread of Covid 19 in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai where he is lodged. In his application, he pleaded that an accused booked for murder does not fall under the category of prisoners who cannot be released from jail as recommended by the high power committee of the Bombay High Court.
The CBI in its objection on Friday said that though the minutes of high power committee did not include murder charges, in the list of charges for which the bail cannot be granted, the court has to decide the plea on the merits.
The agency claimed that the prosecution has submitted enough evidence against Khanna to prove his role in the alleged murder of Sheena and subsequent act of destruction of her body and other evidence.
After considering arguments from both sides, the court refused to grant any relief to Khanna. The detailed order would be made available to lawyers later.
Meanwhile, Indran Mukerjea, approached the special CBI court for bail for the sixth time. While her previous bail plea is still pending for arguments by CBI, the fresh plea has been filed on the ground of the spread of Covid 19 in Mumbai’s Byculla jail. She has claimed that she is vulnerable to infection from the virus. The special court has asked the CBI to respond to the plea by Friday and scheduled arguments on the plea by July 1.
Sheena Bora disappeared on April 24, 2012. On May 23 that year, police found a decomposed body in Pen, Raigad district which turned out to be Sheena’s.
Indrani Mukherjea was arrested by the Mumbai Police on August 25, 2015 after a three-year probe. Indrani’s ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna was arrested in Kolkata the next day.
On September 18, 2015, the Maharashtra government transferred the case to the CBI.
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