NIA to produce Sachin Vaze, held in Ambani case, in court to seek custody

Sachin Vaze, an assistant police inspector, was arrested late on Saturday by the NIA at their Mumbai office after he allegedly confessed to his role in the Ambani security threat case.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will present Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze before a holiday court on Sunday seeking his custody to probe him for his alleged role in the conspiracy to plant an explosive-laden vehicle near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence.

Mumbai Police Officer Sachin Vaze leaves from the Police Commissionerate in Mumbai on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)

The case will be heard at NIA sessions court in Mumbai’s Kalaghoda.

Vaze, an assistant police inspector, was arrested late on Saturday by the NIA at their Mumbai office after he allegedly confessed to his role in the Ambani security threat case. Before his arrest, the assistant police inspector was questioned for nearly 12 hours by an NIA team led by inspector general (IG) Anil Shukla. “Sachin Vaze is part of the group that planted the explosive-laden Scorpio on Carmichael Road (near Antilia) on February 25,” a top NIA official told HT. The 49-year-old Mumbai Police official, however, declined to share any more details at this stage, the NIA officer added.

Before it was handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and then to the NIA, Vaze was the lead investigator in the case. The NIA recorded Vaze’s statement to find out the sequence of events as he was initially heading the probe and also for his connection to the man linked to the vehicle found with 20 gelatin sticks near the billionaire’s residence in Mumbai.

He was named in a statement to police by Vimla Hiran, the widow of Thane’s Mansukh Hiran, who claimed ownership of the vehicle parked outside Ambani’s house and was later found dead in a creek on March 5. The 48-year-old auto-parts dealer’s widow told the police that the explosives-laden Scorpio belonged to one Dr Peter Newton and had been with them for the past three years.

She said that Hiran lent the SUV to Vaze in November 2020 and the vehicle was sent back to his shop in Thane on February 5 this year. It has been alleged that Vaze was also forcing the Thane businessman to take the blame for the case on him and surrender to the police.

Thane sessions court judge rejected Vaze’s anticipatory bail application on Friday and set March 19 as the next date of hearing in connection with a separate case registered by the ATS in Hiran’s alleged murder last week.