Witness denies speaking to Peter Mukerjea as Sheena

Mumbai: During her cross-examination in the 2012 Sheena Bora murder case, prosecution witness Kajal Sharma, the former secretary of key accused Indrani Mukerjea, maintained that she did not feel that she was doing anything wrong when she forged Sheena's signature on her resignation letter and on a leave and license.

According to the prosecution, Indrani allegedly directed Kajal to indulge in the fraud in a bid to hide the fact that Sheena was no more, and had been killed by her. The cross-examination of Kajal - the third witness in the case - got over on Thursday. During her cross-examination, Kajal started weeping in the witness box and told the judge that the defence lawyer was hurting her sentiments.

Advocate Shrikant Shivde, along with advocate Amit Ghag, were cross-examining Kajal on behalf of Peter Mukerjea who is facing charges of conspiracy to kill Sheena, his step-daughter.

Kajal got emotional when the lawyers asked her questions like whether she was a loyal and trustworthy employee of Indrani.

The defence claimed that Kajal gave a false statement to suit the CBI case, as the agency threatened to make her an accused if she did give the statement as per its instructions.

During cross-examination, Kajal denied the defence's claim that in April 2012, Indrani called her and handed over her phone to Peter Mukerjea. At that time, Kajal, on the phone, pretended to be Sheena and said, "Hi jiju I am fine." Indrani then took the phone from Peter and disconnected it. Advocate Shivde claimed that it was a pre-planned act but Kajal denied it.

According to the defence, Peter Mukerjea is not involved in Sheena's murder and to show Sheena was fine, Indrani asked Kajal to speak to Peter Mukerjea on the phone, pretending to be Sheena.