Mumbai, July 1: Indrani Mukerjea sat on daughter Sheena Bora in the car back seat and strangled her to death as her driver clamped her mouth shut and her ex-husband held her by the hair, says a confessional statement opened in a CBI court today.

Driver Shyamvar Pinturam Rai, a prime accused turned approver in the April 2012 murder, has alleged in a 12-page statement given to a magistrate on November 6 last year that Indrani directed him and Sanjeev Khanna to pin Sheena down as she snuffed out the girl's life.

The court unsealed the envelope on directions given to it yesterday by Bombay High Court. Copies of the statement, recorded in Hindi under Section 164 of the CrPC, have been given to all the accused, including Indrani's second husband and media baron Peter Mukerjea.

Apart from details of the murder, Rai has accused Indrani of planting a country-made revolver on him, which eventually got him arrested under the Arms Act. The statement, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, makes no reference to Peter's involvement.

Starting with the time he was taken into confidence and made part of the conspiracy, Rao outlines how he flew to Delhi and Calcutta on Indrani's instructions, shopped for stuff to facilitate the murder and drove her for a recce of the spot to dump Sheena's body.

He then describes the moments before the actual murder: "I looked into the centre mirror (of the car) and saw Sheena sitting with her eyes closed (in the back seat).

"Then Indrani madam asked me to park the car on one side. I got into a narrow lane and parked the car on the left side. There was a wall there.

"Then madam asked (Sanjeev) Khanna to get into the back seat. Khanna went to the back seat and sat next to Sheena. Then madam told me: 'Shyam, press down Sheena's mouth'.

"As I looked back from my driver's seat towards them, I saw Khanna was holding Sheena's hair. And Indrani madam was sitting on Sheena's thighs and strangulating her.

"I put my hand on Sheena's mouth. She bit my finger very hard. My finger started bleeding. I went back to my seat.

"Everything became quiet after a little while. Khanna came back and sat in the front seat. Sheena was lying on the car seat."

Rai goes on to say that Khanna got off the car at a point. "Indrani madam asked me to take her to Taj Land's End hotel. And then she told me - Sheena has got her 3BHK house."

The statement also dwells on how Indrani terminated Rai with a severance package after using him as a key operator in the murder and assuring him his job was secure. She flew out of India days later, leaving the revolver in a parcel that ultimately got Rai arrested.

Rai recounts a conversation he had with Indrani over Skype: "Then she said -Sheena and Mikhail (her son) are calling me mother and giving me a bad name everywhere. And there is a lot of fighting going on with them over property.

"Then she said Sheena is in love with sahab's (Peter) son Rahul. So I have to kill Sheena and Mikhail. You need not panic. Your job will be that of a driver. So a man is coming from Calcutta for this."