Shyamwar Rai eyed Sheena Bora with ulterior motives, Indrani’s ex-husband’s lawyers tell court

After Shyamwar Rai was arrested in 2015, the Mumbai police searched his house and found photographs of Sheena in his cupboard

Driver Shyamwar Rai eyed Sheena Bora with ulterior motives and was the first suspect in her disappearance — this is what the defence told the trial court on Wednesday.

The defence said call data records show that a few days before Rai was arrested, he visited the Pen police station, which is close to where Sheena’s body was disposed of. (HT File)

Rai was being questioned by the defence lawyers Niranjan Mundarni and Shreyansh Mithare, who represented Indrani Mukerjea’s former husband and one of Sheena’s alleged killers — Sanjeev Khanna.

During cross examination, lawyers asked Rai about the photographs of Sheena found in his possession.

After Rai was arrested in 2015, the Khar police’s investigating officer had searched his house and found such photos in his cupboard.

“Since you knew all the members of the Mukerjea family, why did you need Sheena’s photos?” the lawyers asked. Rai had no answer.

The defence said call data records show that a few days before Rai was arrested, he visited the Pen police station, which is close to where Sheena’s body was disposed of.

The lawyers said the Pen police had detained Rai in connection with the murder. They said he falsely implicated Khanna in the case, an allegation that Rai denied.

The lawyers said that on the day Sheena was killed, Rai and Khanna did not meet.