Mumbai: A metropolitan magistrate's court in Mumbai on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, and two others till November 7 after their earlier remand ended.
This was the first time all the three accused -- Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and former driver Shyamvar Rai-- were produced before the court after the CBI took over the investigation in September.
The CBI lawyer sought a fresh permission to interrogate the trio in jail. The magistrate N B Shinde said it may question them further till November 7.
To a court's query, the CBI lawyer said the agency had quizzed Indrani twice, but needed to question her further.
CBI has also sought Indrani's voice sample for verifying call records which purportedly feature her voice. But on Saturday her lawyer Gunjan Mangala said her client had been feeling drowsy and needed a proper medical treatment.
Indrani had cooperated with the agency but her medical condition was not good, therefore she should not be interrogated, the lawyer said.
The magistrate then directed CBI to obtain Indrani's fitness report before interrogating her. Meanwhile, Sanjeev Khanna's lawyer Shreyansh Mithare told the court that the CBI officers searched his client in jail before the interrogation. When the judge sought explanation, the investigating officer said they recovered a matchbox and some cigarettes from Khanna's possession.
However, the magistrate said the CBI cannot conduct a personal search of the accused as he was in judicial custody, but the jail authorities may search him before the interrogation if CBI had any suspicion.
The court also directed Indrani's lawyer to ask for her permission for voice sample test. Mangala said Indrani was "palpitating" and was not medically and mentally fit to give consent right now.
The court later directed that Indrani be produced on November 3 if her medical condition permitted, so that her consent could be obtained.
The only time Indrani spoke today was when the court asked her "are you in a position (to give consent for voice sampling), to which she replied, "No..Sir". Otherwise throughout the hearing she was lying on a bench in the courtroom.
Indrani, Khanna and Rai are accused of murdering her 24-year-old daughter Sheena in April 2012 and disposing of the body in a Raigad forest. Indrani was recently hospitalised after her `platelet count' dipped drastically; but medical test ruled out the reports that she had contracted dengue.
Earlier, on October 2, she had been hospitalised after she fell unconscious, fuelling speculation that she had overdosed on anti-depressant drugs. But the probe by Inspector General (prisons) ruled out the possibility of overdose, poisoning or suicide bid and she was sent back to jail on October 6.
Comments
0 comment