Mumbai, Jul 1 (India Today): Defense lawyers in Sheena Bora murder case have received the statement of Shyamvar Rai, former driver of prime accused Indrani Mukerjea, which he had given to the magistrate under section 164 after the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed a CBI court trying the case to furnish a copy of confession given by Rai.

In a statement Peter Mukerjea's lawyers have claimed that there is no evidence at all against their client. "No reference to Peter for the incident of murder, planning, execution and disposal of body. Nothing about the phone calls etc," said advocate Mihir Gheewala.

What Rai Revealed

Rai has stated that in the car, he had placed his hands on Sheena's mouth while the main accused Indrani Mukerjea had strangulated her own daughter.

He has said that Indrani's ex-husband and Sheena's step father Sanjeev Khanna had pulled Sheena's hair from the back.

Rai, was the first accused to be arrested in the case in August 2015, taking the lid off the murder, after he was picked up in connection with an arms case.

The trial court recently allowed Rai to turn approver in the case and become a prosecution witness.
CBI, the investigating agency in the case, had refused to part with the statement, however, the defense advocates had challenged this in high court and it was only after court had ordered that the statement was handed over.

How was Sheena Killed?

According to the prosecution, Sheena was murdered on April 24, 2012, but the crime came to light after the arrest of Rai in another case.

Last year, Rai had recorded his confessional statement before the Magistrate under the provisions of section 164, which unlike the police statement, is admissible in the trial.

Indrani Mukerjea, Khanna and Rai had allegedly strangled Sheena (24), Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, inside a car in April 2012.

Sheena's body was found in a forest in Raigad. The crime, which came to light in August last year, is allegedly linked to certain financial dealings.

The trio was arrested in August last year, while Peter Mukerjea was arrested in November. According to CBI, Peter was part of the murder conspiracy.

While Peter and Khanna are lodged in Central prison at Arthur Road, 43-year-old Indrani is in Byculla women's jail in the city.