Ex-cop Sachin Vaze, Mansukh Hiran met on Feb 17: ATS officer

CCTV footage shows that arrested police officer Sachin Vaze and deceased businessman Mansukh Hiran had met on February 17, the day before Hiran reported a Scorpio in his possession stolen, a Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad official told news agency PTI on Friday

CCTV footage shows that arrested police officer Sachin Vaze and deceased businessman Mansukh Hiran had met on February 17, the day before Hiran reported a Scorpio in his possession stolen, a Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad official told news agency PTI on Friday.

Hiran, a 48-year-old auto spare parts businessman, was likely murdered and his body washed up ashore at a creek in Thane district on March 5. (HT File)

The same green-coloured Scorpio was found with 20 loose gelatin sticks and a threatening note on St Carmichael Road, across from Antilia, industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, on February 25.

Hiran, a 48-year-old auto spare parts businessman, was likely murdered and his body washed up ashore at a creek in Thane district on March 5.

Vaze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on March 13 for reportedly being the mastermind behind the plot to park an explosives-filled Scorpio outside Ambani’s residence.

The NIA told HT that Vaze, the former head of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Crime Branch had staged the whole thing in a bid to regain his “lost glory”.

Vaze, who joined the Mumbai police in 1990, was suspended in 2004 for his alleged involvement in a purported custodial death of a terror suspect, Khwaja Yunus. Vaze was reinstated last year.

The ATS, which is probing Hiran’s suspicious death, recovered CCTV footage of a spot near Chhhatrapti Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai which showed Vaze and Hiran sitting in a Mercedes, the official said.

The NIA, which is probing the recovery of the explosives-laden SUV and arrested Vaze on March 13 in connection with that case, seized the same black Mercedes car earlier this week.

The CCTV footage showed that Hiran and Vaze were seated in the car for close to 10 minutes.

Hiran had claimed that on February 17 while he was heading for south Mumbai from his house in Thane, the steering of the Scorpio jammed, so he left it on Mulund-Airoli road and proceeded in a cab. Next day he found the SUV was missing, he said.

The CCTV footage showed Vaze leaving in the Mercedes from police commissioner’s office. Hiran was seen walking towards the car when it was parked outside CSMT.

Ten minutes later Hiran stepped out and walked away while Vaze drove back to the commissioner’s office.

The ATS suspected that Hiran handed over the keys of Scorpio to Vaze during this meeting, PTI reported.

The NIA had earlier this week seized a black Mercedes car from a parking lot near CSMT and seized ₹5 lakh in cash, note-counting machine and some `incriminating’ documents.

Hiran’s family alleged that Vaze had a role in his death.

The NIA and ATS investigations have also been grist to the mill of politicians in the state, as opposition leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, including Devendra Fadnavis, have blamed the Shiv Sena, which is part of the ruling coalition government, for protecting Vaze.

The state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as well as the home minister Anil Deshmukh have spoken against these allegations and said that the investigations will reveal the truth, and that no one would be spared.

However, on March 17, Vaze’s former boss, police commissioner Param Bir Singh was transferred as a fall-out of this investigation.

Deshmukh told reporters that his transfer was not routine, but a result of mistakes committed by Singh’s colleagues.

Meanwhile, a state minister on condition of anonymity said, “Hiran’s death case is part of the investigation of Antilia bomb scare which NIA has been probing. The SUV was said to be owned by the deceased. The investigation cannot be completed without investigating the death of Hiran. There is no need for the NIA to take permission from the state government to probe Hiran’s death case. They have already started probing this aspect of the case.”

A NIA team late on Friday evening recreated the scene near Mukesh Ambani’s residence, Antilia, where a Mahindra Scorpio was found abandoned with 20 lose gelatin sticks and a threatening note in it. The NIA officials also made Sachin Vaze walk small distances and video recorded his walk - perhaps to ascertain if the man captured walking with his face covered by a cloth and a face shield on the February 24 night in CCTV footage, was Vaze or someone else.

The entire exercise was conducted in presence of two forensic teams, one from Pune and the other from Kalina in Santacruz. The forensic teams recorded videos and took pictures at site and earlier in the day also visited NIA office.

NIA and police officials, however, refused to comment on the development.

NIA officials on Friday, including Inspector General Anil Shukla and Superintendent of Police Vikram Khalate met newly-appointed city police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, a police official said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Milind Bharambe and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Akbar Pathan were also present at the meeting, he said.

The NIA officials spent around 30 minutes at the police commissioner’s office. It was the first visit by senior officials of the central agency to the commissioner’s office after Nagrale replaced Singh two days ago.

The NIA on Friday interrogated an officer and four constables attached to the CIU. One of the constables questioned was the driver of the Innova that was seen tailing the Scorpio on the night of February 25.

The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, one of the two vehicles seized by NIA on Thursday and registered in the name of Shiv Sena functionary Vijaykumar Bhosale was sold in 2019, one of his family members confirmed.

Vaze used to bring the Land Cruiser Prado only on Sundays and public holidays, said a crime branch officer. On February 26, Vaze had brought Hiran to the CIU office in that car.

Vaze knew Hiran “well”

Traders who knew Hiran well said that the auto spare parts dealer had known Vaze for the past seven to eight years.

A relative of Hiran’s said that the family also knew Vaze well, and the suspended police officer had been to Hiran’s residence on occasion. The family believed Vaze to be a close friend.

An officer bearer of the traders association in Thane said that Hiran had at one point of time thought of starting a new business in partnership with a man suggested by Vaze. But the proposal did not fructify.

Another owner of a shop in the vicinity of Hiran’s shop revealed that meetings between the two had “increased”.

On March 7, Hiran’s wife Vimla gave a statement to the ATS that Hiran had been in Vaze’s company for three consecutive days -- from February 26 to February 28 – after the Scorpio was found outside Antilia. On the 26th, Hiran had approached the CIU stating that the Scorpio was his, but that he had reported it stolen on February 18.

The statement also revealed that Vaze had helped Hiran get a complaint drafted from a lawyer stating that several officers from various units of the Mumbai police and the Maharashtra ATS were harassing him by repeatedly calling him for questioning. The complaint was submitted to the Mumbai police commissioner and a copy was also marked to his Thane counterpart as well as the chief minister.

The statement further revealed that Vaze had suggested to Hiran that he get arrested in the SUV case and assured him that he would help secure bail for him within a few days.

When Hiran went missing on the night of March 4, his brother Vinod called up Vaze to seek help.