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Transfer of Sheena case to CBI good for transparency: Ahmad Javed
Mumbai police commissioner Ahmad Javed has said that the transfer of Sheena Bora murder case to CBI is good for transparency.
Welcoming the state government’s decision to transfer the Sheena Bora murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mumbai police commissioner Ahmad Javed told HT, “I think the ACS [additional chief secretary] (home) has covered it [the case] more than adequately. I would only like to add that the move is good for transparency and for investigating all the angles in the case.”
Home department sources said two developments prompted the state government to recommend the transfer of the case.
The first: director general of police (Maharashtra) Sanjeev Dayal’s report in which he recommended to the government to not let the past and present CPs be involved in the probe. The second: reports of Javed knowing the Mukerjeas.
Sources said Javed called up home department officials and said he knew the Mukerjeas socially.
Though the home department was of the opinion that no rules were breached, it thought ‘it was better to ask a neutral agency to probe the case’.
Police sources said Javed and the Mukerjeas interacted in 2014 during Eid celebrations hosted at Worli police officers mess.
The police chief also met the couple at some of the parties he attended in the past.
Sources have, meanwhile, clarified that Peter Mukerjea did not get in touch with Javed after Indrani was arrested on August 25.
According to home department officials, the state government was not aware that Javed knew Mukerjeas when he was appointed as the commissioner of police on September 8.
They were, however, quick to add that no rules were breached and ‘just knowing someone does not mean something is amiss’.
INX Media co-founder Indrani Mukerjea, her ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyamwar Rai allegedly strangled Indrani’s daughter Sheena Bora on April 24, 2012. They later burnt her body in a forest at Gagode village in Raigad district, Khar police officers said.
The murder came to light after the Khar police arrested Rai in an Arms Act case on August 21. Indrani was arrested on August 25 for her involvement in the case.
