CBI gets 2-day custody of Indrani Mukerjea in INX Media case

A Delhi court on Monday sent Indrani Mukerjea, prime accused in Sheena Bora murder case to two days' CBI custody in connection with the INX Media case.

Special CBI Judge Sunil Rana allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to interrogate Indrani for two days after the agency sought three days custody and directed that she be brought before it on February 7.

During the proceedings, the probe agency submitted before the court that Indrani has to be questioned and confronted with other accused in the case.

It said that during an earlier interrogation in the matter, it was revealed that further investigation requires her custodial interrogation. There is voluminous record in the case and permission to interrogate had been granted earlier also, the CBI said.

However, the Mumbai Police told the court that Indrani has to be produced before a Mumbai court on February 13 and cannot be kept in Delhi beyond that.

A Mumbai Court on Friday allowed a production warrant against Indrani from Delhi's Patiala House Court after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told the court that there were discrepancies in the income tax details of INX Media.

A special court for the ED cases in Delhi had directed that she be produced before it.

The ED has registered a case against INX Media, its founders Peter Mukerjea, former media baron and his wife Indrani, and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

ED sleuths had interrogated Indrani and Peter Mukejrea in prison here last year.

INX Media has been accused of violating Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) guidelines while receiving investments from Mauritius.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son Karti is also an accused in the case, which relates to FIPB approval granted in 2006 for receipt of funds by INX Media.

The anti-money laundering agency has claimed that Karti Chidambaram received money from INX Media to use his influence for grant of FIPB approval when his father was the Union finance minister.

The Mukerjeas are facing a trial in Mumbai for conspiring to kill Sheena Bora, Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, in April 2012.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)