{"id":251164,"date":"2015-09-04T12:34:54","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T07:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=251164"},"modified":"2015-09-04T12:34:54","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T07:04:54","slug":"indrani-mukerjea-detained-in-the-sensational-sheena-bora-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/indrani-mukerjea-detained-in-the-sensational-sheena-bora-murder-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch a falling star"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"peter-mukherjea\"The sensational, almost-unbelievable movie-like plot was scripted much earlier in 1999. In that year, Peter Mukerjea, a blue-eyed boy of Rupert Murdoch, the czar of global media, was anointed as the CEO\u00a0of Star India. The next year, he created the country\u2019s most-viewed programme, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), hosted by Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan. Peter rode a broadcast high as he rubbed shoulders with top notch media giants and political figures.
\nIn January 2007, he quit Star and joined INX Media, which had been floated by his wife Indrani the previous year. As INX wooed renowned global private equity players and announced its intention to launch a slew of entertainment, music and news channels, the Peter-Indrani duo planned to invest Rs 1,000 crore over the next 24 months to emerge as key broadcasters. Within two years, they were hounded out of INX.
\nBy 2015, they were embroiled in an astounding murder case.<\/strong>
\nInvestigators are working on the currently dominant theory that the reasons why Indrani allegedly killed her daughter Sheena in 2012 are rooted in the events linked to INX. Therefore, the genesis lies in what happened between 2006 and 2009. That is why the behaviour of the couple during the period may have clues that will help unravel the macabre killing. At the end of the day, it is a typical neo-rich tale of money, power and sex. It is set in an overtly-ambitious world of today that is obsessed not just with mere materialistic possessions, but also the inherent ability to grab more as and when desired.
\nProfessional peak<\/strong>
\nWhile KBC\u00a0helped Bachchan return to fame with a bang, it put Peter at the top of the media heap. From there on, the Star CEO\u00a0could do no wrong. He was the new media Midas; everything he touched turned to gold. But in Murdoch\u2019s surreal and ever-changing world, nothing is constant. Those who are his favourites come tumbling down for minor misdemeanours. It was inevitable that the same would happen to the starry-eyed wonder boy, Peter.
\nIn early 2006, Murdoch decided to split his Indian operations into two entities \u2013 Star Group and Star Entertainment. Peter was made the head of the former; it implied that he had nothing to do with the entertainment programmes despite his success with KBC. This peeved Peter, who decided that it was time to move on. Maybe it was time to make a new beginning.
\nWhen asked whether his abrupt exit from Star in early 1997 was related to the 1996 bifurcation of powers, Peter replied, \u201cIf you look back, there was always going to be a time, when I would have to do something else…So it\u2019s not something that comes to me as a surprise. What I believe is (bifurcation) was a catalyst for me to actually start thinking what new opportunities exist outside Star, and perhaps the media business.\u201d
\nHe added that there was never a right time to quit. So why at this juncture? \u201cIt\u2019s funny because no matter at what point I would have decided to leave, it would have been pretty much the same question. It could be a year ago or a year from now, and I think the question would not have changed \u2014 I can guarantee you that… Some would say that 14 years is too long and perhaps that is the sensation I began to get at the beginning of 2006. It took me a year to come to the conclusion that it\u2019s time to move on and that there are lots of things to do elsewhere,\u201d he said.
\nEntrepreneurial urge<\/strong>
\nINX Media, which was owned by Indrani, had a sister concern INX News. The former was focused on entertainment and music. In one of the interviews, Indrani said that INX\u2019s major foray would be in the regional markets. She added that she wished to launch nine regional channels \u2013 three each in entertainment, music and news. \u201cLocal content is an attractive proposition for viewers. We wanted to have a bouquet with good regional penetration,\u201d she said.
\nBy 2007, INX Media was wooing global investors; Singapore\u2019s Temasek and New Silk Route Advisors purchased 20 percent each in it, and New Vernon Private Equity bought 10 percent. A 2.84 percent stake in the firm was sold to an Indian investor, Kotak Mahindra. Sources contended that INX Media raised $170 million or Rs 750 crore as per the then prevailing exchange rate, from the four investors. INX was on its way to become a major broadcaster when it launched an English channel, NewsX, a Hindi general entertainment one, 9X, and a Hindi music one, 9XM.
\nSome of the names behind the global investors were known then, but were later sullied. New Silk Route was founded by Rajat Gupta, Raj Rajaratnam, Anil Kumar, Victor Menezes and Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. Of them, four were charged with insider trading in the US. Gupta was sentenced to two years\u2019 prison, Rajaratnam got 11 years, and Verma got two years\u2019 probation when he turned informer in the Gupta-Rajaratnam cases. Menezes settled his case out of the court.
\nRight from the beginning, foreign investors were more interested in entertainment and music rather than news. This was the reason why their holdings were in INX Media. In contrast, INX News was owned by Indrani (17 percent), IM Media (51 percent) which too was indirectly controlled by Indrani, and Vir Sanghvi (16 percent), who was the CEO\u00a0in 2007 and claimed that the stake was in the form of sweat equity. The foreign investors held a minority stake in the news venture through INX Media, which held the remaining 16 percent in INX News.
\n
\n

\"Family
Family vibes<\/strong> After scaling professional peaks, Mukerjea turned entrepreneur, with dismal results<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nStartup pangs<\/strong>
\nThe first mistake that INX made was what most start-ups do. It splurged. Estimates indicated that the group spent Rs 600-700 crore in the first year, or almost the entire corpus raised by outside investors. Its expenditure on programming was Rs 360 crore, according to a few reports. By the second year, the total costs reached Rs 1,000 crore, said insiders. Something had to give; it did with the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. In India, one of the worst-hit sectors was media.
\nWith a slash in advertising budgets by small, medium and big companies, there was little scope to earn revenue. Inevitably, INX couldn\u2019t pay its vendors. Indrani acknowledged as much in an interview when she said, \u201cIt\u2019s not true that we are not paying anyone. Yes, there are some outstandings, but we are making payments every week little by little so over a period of time everyone will be paid.\u201d However, some suppliers claimed that they hadn\u2019t been paid for months.
\nPeter and Indrani sought to raise another $100-150 million from the market but sources had dried up for several reasons. One, there was a paucity of available funds globally. Two, Indian investors were adopting a wait-and-watch stragegy. Finally, no one wished to increase their exposure to the Indian broadcasting sector, whose fortunes had nosedived in 2008.
\nBy March 2009, Peter and Indrani had relinquished their managerial posts \u2013 Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, and Founder and CEO, respectively \u2013 in INX Media. As per a press release issued then, the duo continued to retain their holdings in the company. A few months before, INX Media sold its news channel to Vinay Chhajlani, who also owned Nai Duniya newspaper. It was the beginning of the end of the Mukerjeas\u2019 broadcasting era.
\nAmbani connections<\/strong>
\nEver since INX\u2019s beginnings, there were rumours that Mukesh Ambani had advanced money to Peter and Indrani to launch the channels. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which looked into the group\u2019s transactions, felt that a business conglomerate was involved. It claimed that the Mukerjeas didn\u2019t have the huge sums required to initially launch the three channels. Logically speaking, it must have been extended by a business house.
\nIn interviews he gave after he quit Star, Peter was repeatedly asked about connections with the elder Ambani. He indirectly denied this, saying this was mere speculation. This doesn\u2019t make sense. If Peter and Indrani were able to raise $170 million from the four outside investors, including three global ones, they didn\u2019t need the help of any other investors. Their personal investments in the equities of INX media and INX News would be something they could afford.
\nFor example, in March 2007, the share capital of INX News was Rs 7.5 crore or 75 lakh shares of Rs 10 each. Indrani, who held 68 percent \u2014 directly and through INX Media \u2014 in the company, required Rs 6.8 crore to buy these shares. With Peter as the India head for Star for seven years, and Indrani\u2019s past practice as HR consultant, they could afford to do so. The Ambani connection arose because Indrani\u2019s major clients were Mukesh Ambaniowned firms.
\nThe second Ambani link emerged when Chhajlani purchased NewsX news channel. In a complaint to the Press Council of India in 2010, Mukesh\u2019s younger brother Anil Ambani alleged that the \u201cMukesh Ambani Group has lent and advanced over Rs 100 crore to the Vinay Chhajlani Group, M\/s Suvi (Info) Management (Indore) Pvt Ltd, and M\/s Nai Duniya Media Pvt Ltd.\u201d It added that \u201cVinay Chhajlani Group owns Suvi Info Management and Nai Duniya, which is a 100 percent subsidiary of Suvi Information Management.\u201d Thus, all the three entities were related.
\nFurther disclosures revealed that there were deeper links between Chhajlani and Mukesh Ambani. In 2006-07, Aarthik Commercials Pvt Ltd advanced an unsecured loan of Rs 38 crore to Suvi Info Management, whose shareholders included Vinay Chhajlani and his wife Sunita. In the same year, Suvi Info Management owned 67,34,700 shares in Nai Duniya News and Network Pvt Ltd. Each share was valued at Rs 57.50; the combined worth of the shares: Rs 38.72 crore, or almost the same as the unsecured loan from Aarthik Commercials.
\nAarthik Commercials was owned by several corporate entities, which included Reliance Petromarketing Infrastructure, Jamnagar Kandla Pipeline Company, Agni Fuels, Avalanche Fuels, Jubiliant Autofuels Trading, and Steadfast Fuel Trading. Sources close to the SFIO\u00a0maintained that all these six firms were owned, either directly or indirectly, by Mukesh Ambani. However, the link between Nai Duniya and Aarthik Commercials don\u2019t show any Ambani connection with NewsX, except that Chhajlani, who owns Nai Duniya, purchased the news channel.
\nHowever, there was some evidence to link Mukesh Ambani, Chhajlani and NewsX through Niira Radia, the controversial lobbyist, whose clients included Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata. Among Nira Radia\u2019s conversations taped by the income tax office, one of them related to her talks with the late Jehangir Pocha, a journalist who had a minority stake in NewsX after its purchase by Chhajlani.
\nDuring the conversation between Radia, Pocha and someone called Yatish, Radia instructed Yatish that \u201csalaries for NewsX have to be released without budget being approved\u201d and asked for \u201ca list of creditors (whose dues have) to be cleared. We cannot have people turning up at the office along with cops.\u201d The last comment stemmed from the fact that \u201cyesterday the vendors turned up with the police. There was a lot of drama at the NewsX office….\u201d
\nFinancial machinations<\/strong>
\nBy 2009, some of the global investors, especially Temasek, seemed convinced that Peter and Indrani were involved in financial irregularities. Sources said that an audit found that over Rs 160 crore was siphoned off by the Mukerjeas. Insiders admitted that prices paid to vendors were twice or thrice the market rates; evidently, some of it was paid back to the Mukerjeas. In addition, they earned an undisclosed amount when they sold out their stakes in INX media to New Silk Route.
\nIn March 2009, when the Mukerjeas quit their managerial posts, they retained their shares. Pradeep Guha, the former Zee hand, joined as a consultant; he said that he was there to help the investors for 2-3 months but stayed on. Within a year, Guha became the CEO\u00a0of INX Media. In 2009-10, New Silk Route negotiated with other investors, including the Mukerjeas, to purchase their shares. In February 2011, this purchase got the requisite government approval.
\nBy this time INX Media\u2019s name had changed to 9X Media; it had sold the Hindi entertainment channel and focused only on the music channels in various languages. New Silk Route owned 80 percent of 9X Media and Guha owned another 15 percent. The focus on music helped. By 2013, New Silk Route\u2019s partners claimed that \u201c9X is a turnaround story that has reverted to profitability over the last few years\u201d and that its revenues grew by 30-35 percent annually.
\nIt was at this stage that the majority owner sought an exit route. It decided to sell out its stake in the \u2018profitable\u2019 company. However, it failed to find a buyer at the \u2018right\u2019 price. But by this time it was angry with the Mukerjeas, as it felt that they were responsible for the earlier travails. Even Peter was hurt by the manner in which he was treated by the global investors.
\nIn one of his angry moments, Peter wrote a piece which alleged, \u201cIf you\u2019re planning to venture out on your own with pe (private equity) partners, my one word of advice is \u2013 don\u2019t. Find a strategic partner instead. The guys who work in these outfits are slick dicks and never seem to have enough time…rushing from one meeting to another and even when attending the board meeting of one, they\u2019re on their Blackberries working on another.\u201d Clearly, a case of sour grapes!
\nHowever, it was the money that the Mukerjeas earned from INX Media in various forms that is now being seen as a possible motive for the murder of Indrani\u2019s daughter, Sheena. For this money was parked with Sheena, who may have refused to give it back to her mother. So, the funds that came to haunt the private equity players in INX Media also ended up ruining the Mukerjeas\u2019 dream life.
\neditor@tehelka.com<\/a>
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\n[box]<\/p>\n

Girl, Intercepted<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"indrani-mukharjea-childhood-pic\"<\/p>\n

Indrani Bora nee Khanna came into the limelight like a bolt from the blue after her marriage to Peter Mukerjea. The couple left no stones unturned to project their compatibility and happiness to the world. Indrani\u2019s Facebook page screams, \u201cHere look at us, the very happy and young-at-heart couple.\u2019
\nHowever, what is missing from her page is images from her past. The only one that Tehelka could manage was from her school days at St. Mary\u2019s , Guwahati. She stands neatly dressed girl with her other classmates and poses rather formally for a class photograph.
\nAnother alumnus two years her senior at school, Shrutimala Duara, now a lecturer and writer from Guwahati, remembers her as an extremely quiet girl. \u201cIn our school and especially our batch, we were very friendly with our juniors. But Indrani never liked to mingle; she kept to herself all the time. As far as I remember her, she was anything but fun-loving or naughty like one is at that age.\u201d
\n\"indrani-mukherjea\"From a quiet loner, Indrani surely changed to the extent of defying social norms when she decided to have a live-in relationship with a local boy, Siddharth Das. Duara adds, \u201cSidharth, we knew, stayed rather close to the school.\u201d
\nTehelka managed to speak to Sidharth\u2019s younger brother , Shantanu. After some initial hesitation, he opened up and shared his thoughts on Indrani. \u201cI was quite a kid when I first met her, but our entire family was struck by her style and up-beat ways.\u201d
\nWhat exactly did he mean by style? \u201cWell, she wore expensive clothes, was always made-up and spent a lot of time on [grooming] herself. She surely was very ambitious. She may have left my brother as her materialistic needs were much more than he could afford.\u201d
\nShantanu also confirmed that Sheena was Indrani and Sidharth\u2019s daughter. \u201cI had seen Sheena only once, when she was about six months old and then I see her on TV these days. This is shocking news to all of us at Karimgunj\u201d, he adds.
\nIndrani and Sidharth, according to Shantanu, barely spent any time at their ancestral home in Karimganj. \u201cThey were living in Shillong. Indrani barely had anything to do with the family.\u201d
\nRatul, another acquaintance of Indrani\u2019s from her earlier years, says he barely remembers her. \u201cShe did visit the town some 10 years back, I hear. Sure enough, Indrani has brought one small town at the extreme end of the country into the news, but in such a shameful way. We here feel so ashamed of what we see and hear of her on the TV these days,\u201d
\nAs far as her ambition to be \u2018rich and famous\u2019 goes, a friend of Sanjeev Khanna too shared his thoughts on condition of anonymity. This gentleman says, \u201cSanju was never into betting on horse races or crazy about being with the rich and famous of the city \u2014 till Indrani came into his life\u201d.
\n[\/box]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From being hailed as a media magnate in 2007 to being part of a murder mystery, Peter Mukerjea\u2019s career graph is the stuff of pulp fiction, says Alam Srinivas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":251169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[6362,744,745,9391,9392,9393,9394,9395,9396],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}