"It's big blunder...": Advocate Ranjeet Sangle after skeletal remains go missing in Sheena Bora murder case

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], June 15 : After the prosecution told the Central Bureau of Investigation court that bones, which the CBI claims to be Sheena Bora's remains, have gone missing, advocate representing Indrani Mukerjea, Ranjeet Sangle said that it is a big blunder that the agency has committed.
"From the investigation point of view, I think it is a big blunder that the agency has committed. From the prosecution's point of view, I think this puts a big hole in the prosecution's case, the size of a lunar crater. We will take whatever legal advantage that gives us or legal mileage that this gives us. We will definitely do that in court," Sangle told ANI.
He said that the apprehension may be a fraud played upon the CBI, as according to the records, none of the CBI officers had ever physically or visually seen these articles.
"CBI is an extremely meticulous, responsible and premier independent investigating agency of the central government. They don't commit blunders like this. My apprehension is whether this is a fraud played upon the CBI itself because the records seem to indicate that none of the officers of the CBI had ever physically or visually seen these articles. They have always been in sealed boxes. The chain of custody will establish from whom the CBI has received these articles," he said.
"The report in respect of these articles is completely in favour of the defence. However, the question is why the CBI is not diligent in depositing these articles in court because the process is that they have to be deposited in court," Sangle added.
He further said that the paper trail and the chain of custody would establish whether the CBI had deposited the evidence or it was in their Malkhana.
"If they had deposited these, then where did it go and if it was in their Malkhana then where did it go and why didn't they deposit it in the court? This is all the paper trail will establish. This weakens the prosecution's case," Sangle said.
Reiterating that prime accused Indrani Mukerjea is innocent, her lawyer Sangle said, "Right from day one, we've been establishing that there is no body, no skeleton and the initial investigation agency has falsely implicated my client Indrani Mukerjea and forced her to undergo pre-trial incarceration and as an undertrial for six and a half long years. We have been maintaining from day one that she is completely innocent."
Earlier, Ranjeet Sangle, said on Friday that the prosecution has told the CBI court in Mumbai that a key piece of evidence in the high-profile Sheena Bora murder trial has seemingly gone missing.
"The prosecution told the Central Bureau of Investigation court that bones, which the CBI claims to be Sheena Bora remains, are reportedly untraceable," he said.
The next hearing in the case will now be on June 27.
According to Sangle, Special Public Prosecutor CJ Nandode told the court that an intensive search was done for the items examined by the witness (a forensic expert), but they could not be located.
This information came to light during the testimony of JJ Hospital forensic expert Dr Zeba Khan, who conducted the initial examination of the bones and confirmed that they were the remains of a human body. Dr Khan's examination was crucial to establishing the prosecution's story.
The public prosecutor had earlier sought additional time to locate the bones, which was not opposed by the defence counsel. However, after failing to locate the bones, the public prosecutor is reportedly ready to proceed with Dr Khan's testimony without presenting the bones as evidence, which Indrani Mukerjea's lawyer did not object to.
Mukerjea, the prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, was granted bail by the Supreme Court in May 2022.
Indrani, facing trials for the alleged killing of her daughter Sheena Bora, was lodged at the Byculla women's prison in Mumbai following her arrest in August 2015 and had spent over six years there.
Indrani has always maintained that Sheena was not murdered and had gone abroad for her education in 2012, although Indrani could never prove her claims.
The CBI has been investigating the Sheena Bora case since 2015, after taking over the case from Mumbai Police. According to the case registered by Mumbai Police, Sheena Bora was kidnapped and murdered by strangulation in April 2012.