NIA on lookout for 2 men hired by Vaze as part of Hiran murder plot: Officials

The officials told HT that it is being ascertained if the suspects smothered Hiran in a moving car, or at Gaimukh Chowpatty in Thane, or if somebody else was also involved in the murder. The officials are also trying to confirm if Vaze was present at the scene of the murder.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is looking for two people it suspects were hired by suspended Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze as part of the conspiracy to kill businessman Mansukh Hiran, senior officials familiar with the details of the case said.

Sachin Vaze. (File photo)

“The suspects were offered money to get rid of the Thane-based businessman after Hiran refused to take the blame for the explosives-laden car planted outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai on February 25,” one of the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said. The suspects are said to have criminal antecedents.

Hiran, who is linked to the car found outside Antilia, was found dead in a creek at Retibunder in Mumbra on March 5.

The officials told HT that it is being ascertained if the suspects smothered Hiran in a moving car, or at Gaimukh Chowpatty in Thane, or if somebody else was also involved in the murder. The officials are also trying to confirm if Vaze was present at the scene of the murder.

The two suspects have been identified but are yet to be traced, one of the officials said, adding that more arrests are likely soon.

NIA took over the investigation into the murder case from the Maharashtra ATS, as it was linked to the explosives case which the federal agency had been investigating.

On Sunday, NIA arrested Riyazuddin Kazi, who, a second NIA officer said, assisted Vaze in the destruction of evidence in the murder case as well as the Antilia bomb scare case.

Param Bir Singh, meanwhile, is learnt to have denied knowledge of Vaze’s plans. “He (Singh) said he was not kept in the loop by CIU [crime intelligence unit],” the officer said.

Meanwhile, Inspector General Anil Shukla, who led the investigations in both the case, completed his tenure on Monday.