Mansukh Hiran murder case: Accused to remain in NIA custody till April 7

Special NIA judge Prashant Sitre observed that there was progress in the investigation and several articles were recovered by the agency

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday extended the agency’s custody of former police constable Vinayak Shinde and cricket bookie Naresh Ramniklal Gor, the accused arrested in Thane trader Mansukh Hiran’s murder case, till April 7.

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The federal agency had claimed that it required their custody to unravel the conspiracy and unearth the motive behind eliminating the trader.

On Tuesday, the central agency produced them before the special NIA court, as their initial custody ending. Its counsel, Sunil Gonsalves, informed the court that the agency had recovered a chit containing 14 numbers related to the SIM cards, five of which were given to Vaze.

The prosecutor added that a meeting had taken place between Vaze and Shinde, in which they allegedly hatched the conspiracy. He said the agency was inching towards uncovering the conspiracy, but needed further custody of the two accused to understand the motive behind Hiran’s murder.

Gonsalves prayed for the extension of Shinde and Gor’s custody by 10 days. NIA’s investigating officer Vikram Khatale submitted that the investigation was at the initial stage, and the custody of the two was required for their detailed interrogation over the recovered materials in the case.

Advocates Aftab Diamondwala and Gautam Jain, who represented the accused, opposed the pleas. They submitted that the roles attributed by the investigation agency to both of them were limited to providing and accepting SIM cards, and since the cards are recovered and adequate custody had already been given to the investigators, the prayer for extension of their custody was not justified.

Special NIA judge Prashant Sitre, however, observed that there was progress in the investigation and several articles were recovered by the agency.

“Investigation is at a crucial stage and sufficient opportunity must be given to the investigating officer to dig out the truth,” said the judge while extending their custody till April 7. The judge also expressed possibility of more arrests in the case.

Hiran, who is linked to the SUV that was found parked outside Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia home last month containing 20 loose sticks of gelatin and a threatening letter addressed to the industrialist, was found dead in a creek at Reti Bunder near Mumbra on March 5. Six handkerchiefs were stuffed in his mouth and his face was covered with a scarf. All his belongings, such as a gold chain and ring, mobile phone, wallet and watch, were missing. None of these items have been recovered so far.

On March 21, the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) had arrested Shinde and Gor, claiming that the former cop had contacted the 48-year-old victim by pretending to be a police officer and had called him to Ghodbunder Road late in the evening on March 4, the day Hiran when he went missing.

ATS officials suspected that suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze, who was arrested by NIA on March 13 in the Antilia case, was purportedly the brain behind the murder. However, Shinde – a convict in the Lakhan Bhaiya fake encounter killing case – had actually executed the alleged murder.

Gor was accused of supplying SIM cards to Vaze. Some of the SIM cards were used in commission of the murder, said ATS.

The agency handed over the murder case and custody of Shinde and Gor to NIA on March 24, pursuant to directions issued by the chief judicial magistrate at Thane.