MUMBAI: A Mumbai Metropolitan court today extended till September 5 the police custody of all three arrested accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, including that of her mother Indrani Mukerjea, to enable investigators dig deeper into the sordid saga.
Before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S M Chandgade extended the remand of the accused--Indrani, wife of former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and driver Shyam Rai-- police slapped the additional charge of attempt to murder for allegedly plotting to kill Sheena's brother Mikhail.
All three were produced before the metropolitan court shortly before 3 pm amid tight security.
Police also told the court they want to recover Sanjeev Khanna's passport.
Section 328 IPC (causing hurt by poison) has also been slapped against Indrani after Mikhail claimed she had spiked his drink on the fateful day when Sheena was killed.
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate rejected the contention of defence lawyers Gunjan Mangla and Hrishikesh Mundergi, appearing for Indrani and Khanna, that since the two have been in police custody for sufficient time it should not be extended any further.
Police suspect some more people outside the state might have been involved in the murder and said efforts were on to establish the financial trail in the case.
Communication between Khanna and Indrani was through online means, police said, adding they want to trace Sheena's mobile and clothes.
Police also moved an application, contending that the accused should not be allowed to consume home food during their custody as it could be laced with poison, but the court rejected it.
Guwahati-based Mikhail, Indrani's son with her first husband Sidharth Das, had earlier told the police she had tried to kill him thrice in the past.
Mikhail had also alleged that just hours before Sheena was taken out by their mother and Khanna on April 24, 2012 on what turned out to be the last drive of her life, Indrani drugged him but he managed to escape from the spot and averted becoming the second murder victim.
The sensational murder case had yesterday taken a fresh turn when police seized a suitcase from the residential premises of Indrani and Peter Mukerjea in Mumbai's Worli area.
The suitcase was to be purportedly used to stuff Mikhail into it after killing him.
Police had yesterday taken Khanna and Indrani's driver Shyam Rai to the forest in Raigad district where Sheena's body was allegedly dumped, to 'recreate' the crime scene.
During sustained interrogation here on Saturday, Indrani and Sanjeev had blamed each other for the crime.
Indrani accused Khanna of committing the murder and dragging her into the crime. However, he said he only assisted Indrani as she had promised to help him financially.
A village official in Raigad district, who helped the Mumbai police locate the spot where Sheena Bora was allegedly buried, had yesterday said when he first spotted the remains in 2012 they were just skeleton.
"It was all skeleton. There was no flesh. The local government doctor took it for postmortem, after which it was buried," Police Patil Ganesh Dhene of Hetevne village said.
The blood and hair samples of Indrani and Mikhail Bora have also been collected and sent to the Kalina-based Forensic Science Laboratory and the report is expected in the next couple of days.