Antilia bomb scare: Court rejects NIA custody plea for ex-Mumbai cops Waze, Mane

The special NIA court also allowed former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze to receive treatment of his heart condition at a private hospital.

A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday rejected the probe team’s application for custody of former Mumbai Police officers Sachin Waze and Sunil Mane in bomb scare case at the residence of Reliance Industries’ boss Mukesh Ambani and the subsequent murder of businessman Mansukh Hirani. The duo are currently lodged at the Taloja prison.

Suspended police officer Sachin Waze during a court appearance. (PTI Photo) (PTI)

The court also allowed Waze to receive treatment of his heart condition at a private hospital, a report in news agency ANI said. The federal agency had sought Wazi and Mane’s custody for two and five days, respectively.

On Saturday, the NIA had told special judge Prashant R Sitre that it needed to interrogate the duo further, adding that its investigation in the two cases was in its last phase.

It said following the arrest of former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and four others, the agency suspected some more persons had played a key role in the two cases.

On February 25, a Mahindra Scorpio was found abandoned near billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia on Carmichael Road in south Mumbai, with 20 loose gelatin sticks and a note threatening to kill members of the industrialist’s family.

NIA took over investigations in both the cases and claimed that Vaze was the main accused in the case and carried out the crimes out of purported desperation to “restore his lost glory in police.”