Vaze transferred, Dadra Nagar Haveli administrator booked: Anil Deshmukh

The home minister added, “The truth will come out. If the Opposition has any evidence, they should bring it forward. The government is not going to back anybody in this case”

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday announced that Sachin Vaze, the police officer who is under the scanner in the Mansukh Hiren case, will be transferred out of the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police. The Opposition had created a ruckus in the legislative council demanding Vaze’s suspension. The home minister also announced that Dadra Nagar Haveli administrator Praful Patel has been booked under Prevention of Atrocities Act in connection with the suicide of MP Mohan Delkar.

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. (HT Photo)

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said that Hiran’s widow suspected Vaze’s involvement in his death. The Opposition sought his suspension and threatened to not allow House proceedings to continue.

Amid din in the legislative council, Deshmukh said, “We have decided to transfer Sachin Vaze. He will be moved from Crime Branch. An impartial inquiry will be done and whoever is guilty will face action.”

He added, “The truth will come out. If the Opposition has any evidence, they should bring it forward. The government is not going to back anybody in this case. The guilty will be punished, be it Sachin Vaze or anybody else.”

The home minister added that the police has booked Praful Patel on the complaint received by Delkar’s son Abhinav. “There has been a demand for inquiry in the suicide of Mohan Delkar. His note mentions that he killed himself due to pressure from Praful Patel. Based on the complaint received by Abhinav Delkar, a case has been registered under Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. Dadra Nagar Haveli administrator Praful Patel has also been booked,” Deshmukh said.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis demanded Vaze’s arrest and triggered an uproar in the assembly as legislators traded accusations.

Fadnavis referred to the statement of Hiran’s widow, Vimla, 43, to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) after her husband’s body was found washed up in a creek in Thane district neighbouring Mumbai on March 5, hours after his family had reported him missing since the previous night.

In the statement reviewed by HT, Vimla said she was sure that her husband was murdered, and assistant police inspector Vaze, who heads the crime intelligence unit of the Mumbai police crime branch, and was known to Hiran, may have killed him.

“In her statement, Mansukh Hiran’s wife has said that the car found outside Antilia, industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s South Mumbai residence, was in possession of Sachin Vaze from November 20 last year. The car was given to him for use as Hiran knew Vaze, who was the former’s customer. The vehicle was with Vaze before it was returned to Hiran after four months,” Fadnavis said on Tuesday.

On March 7, the ATS registered a case of the murder of the 48-year-old Thane businessman against unknown persons based on Vimla’s statement.

Sachin Vaze did not respond to repeated calls and messages. The story will be updated when and if he responds.