Alibaug/Mumbai, Aug. 29 (PTI): The sensational Sheena Bora murder mystery produced a new twist on Saturday with police admitting that no case of murder or accidental death was registered when body parts now suspected to be of Sheena were recovered in Raigad three years ago.

Raigad police admitted that local officers had treated the case casually when a burnt body was found on May 23, 2012, a month after Sheena was believed to have been murdered.

”Neither a crime, nor a report of accidental death was registered when Raigad police sent recovered skeletal remains to JJ hospital in 2012,” Raigad district’s police chief Suvez Haque told reporters in Alibag, the district headquarters.

”I have been ordered to probe all the wrongs or lapses that were committed,” said Haque, who took over as Raigad’s Superintendent of Police earlier this year.

”We have given a factual report to our seniors. IG Konkan Range has ordered an inquiry. We will complete it at the earliest and produce our report,” he said.

However, Haque declined to comment on why the police had been indifferent three years ago when the human remains were recovered.

”An inquiry is on and this is not the right time or I am not the right person to comment on why a case was not filed,” he said replying to a volley of questions.   

Haque said that on May 23, 2012, an eyewitness observed a human body, which was partially burnt. However, after the 'panchnama' the then police officers did not file any crime case or register ADR, he said.

The officers just noted in the station diary that skeletal remains had been sent to JJ Hospital, he said.

As the SP's disclosure raised questions whether there was any cover up in the crime then, Director General of Police Sanjeev Dayal told PTI that an inquiry has been ordered to find out the lapses and promised action against erring officers.

Though Sheena, the daughter of high-profile media professional Indrani Mukerjea, was allegedly murdered in 2012 and her body disposed of in Raigad district, the crime came to light only recently.

The police have arrested Indrani, one of her former husbands, Sanjeev Khanna, and driver Shyam Rai in the case.

Dayal said “We are gathering all the necessary information and will act against the officials concerned (of Raigad police) if it is found that they botched up the case (when the body was found).”

The remains found from the forest in Pen tehsil of Raigad have been sent for DNA test.

The focus in the case shifted to the forensic analysis of the skeletal remains.

Police also continued their interrogation of the victim's mother Indrani, Khanna and the driver to more details of the crime and the motive.

Blood and hair samples of Indrani and Mikhail Bora have also been collected and sent to Forensic Science Laboratory.

The investigation had gained momentum with the arrest of Khanna, who according to Mumbai Police chief Rakesh Maria, had confessed to his complicity in the murder. 

On Friday, the police had also briefly questioned Indrani's husband and former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea at the Khar police station, scene of action for the last four days.

Police refused to accept a written statement from Peter Mukerjea, and he was told that when the police required, he would be called to answer their queries.

Khanna had earlier claimed that he was sleeping when 24-year-old Sheena was murdered and found her dead in the vehicle.

The police also claimed that Sheena's passport was recovered from Dehradun, negating the theory that she went to the U.S.

While seeking custody of Khanna, police had contended that Indrani, her driver and Khanna abducted Sheena in a car and took her to a forest in Pen thehsil where they strangled her and then set fire to her body.