Antilia explosives scare: Cop unable to recall key details

First prosecution witness, police officer Asif Sande’s cross-examination by advocate RB Mokashi brought out gaps in the first investigating officer’s recollection of how the FIR was registered, the source of the initial information and the documentation of crucial forensic evidence

MUMBAI: More than five years after an explosives-laden Scorpio was found parked outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, the trial in the 2021 Antilia bomb scare case entered the evidence stage on Wednesday, with the special NIA court recording the deposition of its first prosecution witness, police officer Asif Sande.

Antilia explosives scare: Cop unable to recall key details

His cross-examination by advocate RB Mokashi, representing dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, brought out gaps in the first investigating officer’s recollection of how the FIR was registered, the source of the initial information and the documentation of crucial forensic evidence.

Attached to the Gamdevi police station, which initially investigated the case, Sande was questioned about the circumstances under which the complaint was received and registered. He initially agreed with the defence that police sub-inspector Amit Kadam had orally conveyed the contents of the complaint to him. However, when shown the FIR, which described the mode of receipt of information as “written”, Sande said he could not remember whether he had received the complaint orally or in writing.

Sande also could not recall whether the written complaint bore the signature of senior police inspector Rampiyare Rajbhar or whether it had been marked to him. Sande acknowledged that he was not the officer in charge of the Gamdevi police station when the FIR was registered, although his signature appeared on it in that capacity.

The defence also questioned Sande on the handling and documentation of fingerprint evidence. Although he agreed that, as the first investigating officer, he had recorded the fingerprint panchnama, he accepted on being shown the document that it did not bear his signature and carried only his name.

He could not recall whether it had come to his knowledge that three fingerprints had been found on the SUV. He also said he did not remember whether he had come across the fingerprint panchnama report during his investigation.

Sande further agreed that Kadam had prepared the panchnama of the Scorpio at the spot, but said he could not endorse all its contents.

The case stems from the recovery of a Mahindra Scorpio SUV containing gelatin sticks and a threat letter near Antilia on February 25, 2021. The vehicle belonged to Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, who had reported it stolen a week earlier. His body was found in a creek in Thane on March 5.

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) took over the investigation on March 8, 2021, and subsequently filed a charge-sheet against ten accused, including Waze and former assistant commissioner of police Pradeep Sharma. The agency alleged a larger conspiracy linking the placement of the explosives-laden vehicle to Hiran’s murder. The allegations are yet to be established at trial.