Antilia explosives scare: NIA court rejects Naresh Gor’s bail plea

The plea was rejected by the court on the ground that the federal agency was yet to complete the investigation and file a charge sheet in the case

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of cricket bookie Naresh Ramniklal Gaur, arrested in connection with the Antilia explosives scare and subsequent murder of Thane trader Mansukh Hiran.

On February 25, a green 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 certain members of the Ambani family. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

The plea was rejected by the court on the ground that the federal agency was yet to complete the investigation and file a charge sheet in the case.

Gaur was arrested on March 21 by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which was investigating the Hiran murder case. Later his custody was handed over to the NIA, as the latter took over the case from ATS.

In his bail plea, filed in April through the law firm Diamondwala & Co, Gaur had claimed that he has been made a scapegoat by the investigating agency at the instance of co-accused dismissed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze. He claimed that he was never contacted by Vaze.

The plea was opposed by NIA claiming that Gaur was part of the larger conspiracy hatched by dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze, a prime accused in the case, to eliminate Hiran, along with other Mumbai police officers Sunil Mane and Riyazuddin Kazi - both of whom are also arrested by NIA and subsequently dismissed from service, and former policeman Vinayak Shinde.

NIA claimed that the SIM cards used by Vaze were provided by Gaur and also the mobile phone used for calling Hiran was purchased by Vaze, in which the SIM inserted was also provided by Gaur. Further, the agency claimed that if released on bail, Gaur may jump the bail and tamper with evidence.

On February 25, a green 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 certain members of the Ambani family.

On March 5, the body of the SUV owner, Thane based auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran, was found dumped in a creek at Reti Bunder near Mumbra.

NIA subsequently took over investigations in both the cases and claimed that it was all handy work of Vaze, out of purported desperation to “restore his lost glory.”

NIA later also arrested encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and four others who allegedly throttled Hiran and dumped the body in the creek.