Hiren murder: NIA seeks medical report of Pradeep Sharma

The encounter specialist has been lodged in Sassoon Hospital in Pune for several months on account of chest pain and blood pressure complaints.

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has moved a plea before the special NIA court hearing the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases, seeking direction to the jail authorities to file a comprehensive medical report of accused Pradeep Sharma. The encounter specialist has been lodged in Sassoon Hospital in Pune for several months on account of chest pain and blood pressure complaints. The hospital has been recommending his discharge since July.

The NIA’s three-page application to the special NIA court refers to a letter written by Sassoon Hospital on August 7 to the court through Yerawada Central Prison in Pune. The letter alleged that Sharma was not cooperating with the hospital for tests that were required to be conducted for his blood pressure complaint. (HT PHOTO)

The NIA’s three-page application to the special NIA court refers to a letter written by Sassoon Hospital on August 7 to the court through Yerawada Central Prison in Pune. The letter alleged that Sharma was not cooperating with the hospital for tests that were required to be conducted for his blood pressure complaint.

The NIA has said that the encounter specialist is taking undue liberty and is staying in hospital unauthorizedly, which is in violation of prison rules. It has thus asked the court to call for his medical reports and records from Yerawada Prison and Sassoon Hospital. It has also asked that Sharma be examined by a team of doctors at Sassoon Hospital and the report be submitted to the court. The court has now asked Sharma to reply to NIA’s plea by Monday.

Sharma was arrested in June last year for his alleged role in the murder of Thane trader Mansukh Hiran. The special NIA court, while rejecting his bail plea, had observed that it found that Sharma came into the picture after February 28, 2021, particularly in the conspiracy to kill the 48-year-old Hiran, whose explosives-laden SUV was found abandoned outside Antilia, the South Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. “Prima-facie, the conspiracy to eliminate Hiran was hatched, as he was a weak link and under the apprehension that he may spill the beans,” the court had said.

The chargesheet of the NIA also alleged that Sharma was paid “a huge amount of cash” by the prime accused, dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze, who had allegedly taken Hiran’s SUV, planted 20 loose gelatin sticks in it and parked it outside Antilia.

On March 3, Waze had allegedly met Sharma outside the office of his charitable trust, Pradeep Sharma Foundation, in Andheri East, and handed over a rexine bag containing a large amount of cash (bundles of Indian currency notes of ₹500 denomination), the contract money to get Hiran eliminated.