Sachin Vaze’s colleague Riyazuddin Kazi arrested, in NIA custody till April 16

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested assistant police inspector Riyazuddin Kazi on Sunday noon for destroying evidence and his alleged involvement in the conspiracy along with the main accused and former police officer Sachin Vaze in the Antilia bomb threat and Mansukh Hiran murder cases

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday arrested Mumbai Police’s assistant police inspector Riyazuddin Kazi over the alleged conspiracy related to the planting of an explosives-laden car outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, and the subsequent death of businessman Mansukh Hiran, people familiar with the developments said.

File photo: Sachin Vaze. (Pratik Chorge/Hindustan Times)

Kazi, who was posted in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) along with tainted officer Sachin Vaze, said to be the mastermind in both cases, was aware of Vaze’s plans and “actively” took part in the destruction of evidence after the crimes, an officer said on condition of anonymity.

He was arrested around 12.30am on Sunday after hours of questioning and produced before a special court during the day, which remanded him to NIA custody till April 16.

Kazi was shifted out of the Mumbai Crime Branch unit last month after NIA arrested Vaze on March 13 for allegedly devising the entire plan to regain his lost glory in the Mumbai Police, as first reported by HT. The agency also took over investigations into the murder of Hiran, saying it was a “connected” offence and that Vaze killed the auto spare parts dealer after he refused to take the blame for the explosives-laden vehicle.

A second officer said Kazi destroyed vital evidence related to the case such as a fake vehicle registration plate and the digital video recorder (DVR) of the housing society where Vaze lives. He was also seen at several garages where he got fake registration plates made and later confiscated the DVRs from all the garages and destroyed them, the officer added.

NIA earlier questioned Kazi for several days to join the dots in the probe. “He was also reportedly part of the meetings where the alleged conspiracy to kill Hiran was hatched, but this aspect is being further investigated,” the second officer said on condition of anonymity.

While seeking Kazi’s custody, special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves argued before the court: “Kazi was working as assistant police inspector in the crime intelligence unit (CIU) and was well aware about the crime. He was also aware of the design and things that transpired after the case was transferred to NIA. Hence, the accused started destroying evidence like CPU and DVR.”

NIA said it needed to confront the accused with every recovered article, document and witness. “Vaze has given half the facts and we need to question Kazi,” Gonsalves said.

Defence lawyer Hasnain Kazi said: “Sachin Vaze was made the investigating officer (IO) in the case. As Qazi was in the same unit hence he was assisting him. The main accused was involved in destroying the evidence and Kazi was present there on the instructions of Vaze. Qazi was going to NIA office from last 20 days for investigation.”

In a related development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde to establish whether the allegations that Deshmukh asked Vaze to collect ₹100 crore every month from hotels, bars and restaurants were true. The allegations have been levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

Singh said in his letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray that Palande was present when Deshmukh allegedly asked Vaze to extort money from the businesses.

Singh and a few other senior police officers from Mumbai have already been questioned by CBI since Friday, while NIA has also shared relevant case documents to assist the agency in its probe.

CBI has been asked by the Supreme Court to finish its preliminary enquiry within 15 days.