E-Paper
Hiran murder: NIA seizes another car
According to police, six handkerchiefs were found stuffed in his mouth while his face was covered by a scarf. All his belongings were missing.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday seized another car in connection with the murder of 48-year-old Thane auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran, said officials. The agency suspects that the Audi, seized from Vasai, could be the vehicle in which Hiran was smothered. NIA sources said the Audi was taken to south Mumbai, where forensic experts thoroughly examined it on Thursday for possible biological and other traces.
Hiran was linked to the explosives-laden Scorpio found abandoned near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia in south Mumbai on February 25. He had gone missing late in the evening on March 4 and his body was recovered from a creek at Reti Bunder near Mumbra the next day.
According to police, six handkerchiefs were found stuffed in his mouth while his face was covered by a scarf. All his belongings were missing.
The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS), which was earlier probing the case, had arrested former constable Vinayak Shinde and cricket bookie Naresh Gor in connection with the murder. ATS suspected that suspended Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze — who has been arrested by NIA for his alleged role in the Antilia security scare case — is also the prime accused in Hiran’s murder case, while Shinde allegedly helped him execute the murder, and Gor arranged for some SIM cards used in the commission of the crime from Gujarat.
Meanwhile, NIA on Thursday raided a club in Girgaum, whose owner had allegedly introduced Vaze and Shinde to Gor, said an agency official. An NIA team conducted a search for three hours and recorded the statements of the owner, manager and staff, the official added.
Both ATS and NIA officials believe that Mansukh was smothered in a vehicle at Gaimukh, along Ghodbunder Road in Thane.
According to ATS, its initial probe had revealed that Hiran received a call around 8.29 pm on March 4, and the caller spoke to him for around 11 minutes and asked him to meet near Majiwada junction on Ghodbunder Road.
According to an ATS officer, the trader was made to sit in a four-wheeler at Majiwada junction, taken 10 km away to Gaimukh breach front, and smothered in the vehicle at the spot. Later, the body was dumped in the creek at Reti Bunder, NIA officials suspected.
The agency is also trying to trace the Maruti Eeco, allegedly stolen from Aurangabad in November 2020, whose original number plates were found during a search conducted by NIA in Mithi river on March 28.
