Sachin Waze planted bombs near Antilia to regain ‘supercop’ clout, says NIA

The NIA mentioned in its chargesheet that the entire conspiracy was hatched for ‘monetary gains’ by terrorising wealthy individuals and to extort money.

Dismissed Mumbai Police assistant inspector Sachin Waze planted explosives in an SUV outside Antilia to orchestrate a terror threat and regain his clout as a ‘supercop’, National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in its chargesheet filed last week.

Suspended police officer Sachin Waze during a court appearance. (PTI)

On February 25, this year, an SUV with gelatin sticks and a threat letter was found parked illegally on Carmichael Road, near businessman Mukesh Ambani's residence, Antilia. 

The owner of the vehicle, Mansukh Hiran, was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5, days after claiming that his vehicle had been stolen. Police arrested Waze on March 13 on conspiracy charges.

The NIA chargesheet named Sachin Waze as one of the main conspirators behind placing the explosives-laden vehicle, with a fake registration number, and a threat note. The probe agency also said that Waze played a key role in the murder of Thane-based trader Mansukh Hiran.

Waze was suspended from the police force in 2004 — in connection with the Khwaja Yunus suicidal death case — before being reinstated in 2020, when he was posted in the Crime Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Police.

The  NIA mentioned in its chargesheet that Besides, Waze hatched the conspiracy to extort money from wealthy and prosperous individuals by instilling fear of life in them. 

While heading the Crime Intelligence Unit, Waze handled some of the sensitive cases, and during the course allegedly collected huge amounts of money through extortion and used parts of them to commit the crime.

"He (Waze) wanted to regain his clout as an ace detective/encounter specialist. Thus, he hatched a conspiracy to place the Scorpio laden with Gelatine sticks (explosives) and a threat note addressed to chairman of a major business group near his residence," the NIA mentioned in its chargesheet.

The NIA chargesheet elaborated how Waze asked Hiran, who he knew from earlier, to leave the vehicle at a pre-determined location, after which Waze himself drove the vehicle to Carmichael Road and parked it there, after planting gelatin sticks and a threat letter in it. Waze also asked Hiran to lodge a complaint that the vehicle was stolen.

Waze also tampered with the registration plate of the vehicle and installed a forged plate bearing the number of another vehicle that belonged to the convoy of Mukesh Ambani's wife, Nita.

When the security detail of Ambani family found the parked vehicle, Waze led a team to the spot and got the high-profile case transferred to the Crime Intelligence Unit.

“The wording on the threat note ‘agle baar connect hokar aega‘ (next time the bomb will have wires connected) clearly depicts [the] intention of Waze for furtherance [of] acts to re-establish himself as a supercop by staging a fake encounter as to regain his lost glory,” the NIA chargesheet said.

The disgraced police officer initially tried to make the bomb scare look like an organisation called ‘Jaish ul Hind’ was behind it. Soon after, he tried to convince Hiran to take responsibility for placing the car near Antilia. When Hiran refused, Waze conspired to get him killed with the help of encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, as Hiran was aware of the entire conspiracy and could “spill the beans”, the NIA claims.

Waze then began destroying evidence, such as CCTV footages, vehicle entry register at the police headquarters, and the mobile phone he used, to cover his tracks.

The NIA alleged in its chargesheet that Waze financed his conspiracy through an extortion racket.