AFTER EARLIER claiming that he had not been asked by Rahul Mukerjea — Sheena Bora’s fiance and the son of former media baron Peter Mukerjea — about her disappearance, accused-turned -approver Shyamvar Rai was on Monday confronted with a statement he had made before the police saying otherwise. Rai was shown a statement he made before the police on September 6, 2015 when he allegedly said Rahul had asked him about Sheena’s whereabouts. The defence also grilled Rai based on his Call Data Records, submitted recently by a telecom company. Advocate Sudeep Pasbola, representing main accused Indrani Mukerjea, asked Rai about the five phone calls between him and Rahul made days after the alleged murder on April 24, 2012. Pasbola claimed that on April 25, 2012, Rai had received a call from Rahul at 11.15am. Rai called Rahul back a minute later and the conversation lasted 31 seconds. Pasbola also claimed that the next day the two exchanged two more calls. When asked if he had ever held a long conversation with Rahul, Rai told the court that he might have but he could not recollect the conversation. Pasbola told the court that Rahul and Rai had spoken to each other for around 13 minutes (756 seconds). “I cannot recollect the nature of the conversation or the reason of the call,” Rai told court. Immediately after Sheena’s disappearance, Rahul had begun seeking information regarding her whereabouts. When asked about the alleged murder and the events that followed, Rai told the court that the murder had taken place in a lane near National College. He told the court that while Indrani sat on Sheena’s lap to strangle her, he had tried covering Sheena’s mouth. Rai claimed that Sheena had not screamed but had bitten him. Rai also claimed that after the murder, he along with Indrani and Sanjeev Khanna went to Taj Lands End in Bandra, where he had parked the car in a parking lot. He also told the court that the car windows were tinted with a dark film. “The body of Sheena was lying in the leg space between the seats of the car,” Rai told court. When asked if there were other cars parked nearby, Rai said there might have been. Pasbola also grilled Rai about the possibility of the area being crowded usually in the evenings since the residence of actor Shahrukh Khan is nearby.
