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Vaze the mastermind, will seek his custody, says Maha ATS chief
Mumbai: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Jaijeet Singh on Tuesday said that suspended police officer Sachin Vaze was a “prime accused” in the Mansukh Hiran murder case, adding that the investigating agency has procured a transfer warrant from a Thane court with which it will approach the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking his custody
Mumbai: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Jaijeet Singh on Tuesday said that suspended police officer Sachin Vaze was a “prime accused” in the Mansukh Hiran murder case, adding that the investigating agency has procured a transfer warrant from a Thane court with which it will approach the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court seeking his custody.
Vaze is in custody of NIA till March 25 for allegedly planting an SUV filled with explosives outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence last month. Hiran, a Thane-based auto spare parts dealer who was linked to the car, was found dead at the Reti Bunder Creek on March 5.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference outside the agency’s office in south Mumbai, Singh said that more arrests were likely in the case.
“Accused in the said crime, Sachin Vaze is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency till March 25. Since, it is necessary to thoroughly interrogate him in connection with the crime, a transfer warrant has been obtained from the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Thane and a comprehensive application has been filed before the Special NIA court at Mumbai. We are sure that after thoroughly interrogating him, the ATS team will get to the bottom of the crime and unearth the conspiracy,” Singh said.
ATS on March 21 arrested two men, Vinayak Shinde, a convicted constable on parole in an encounter case, and bookie Naresh Gor in the murder of the 48-year-old spare parts dealer, who was in possession of the SUV, and which he reported stolen before it was found parked outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia residence last month containing 20 loose sticks of gelatin and a threatening letter addressed to the businessman and his wife.
“It has come to light in the investigation that some of the 14 SIM cards obtained through accused Naresh Gor were activated and given to Vinayak Shinde, and Shinde in turn transferred the activated SIM cards to others involved in the crime and the SIM cards were used in commission of the said crime. Preliminary investigation has revealed that some of the SIM cards used in commission of the crime and some of the mobile handsets in which those SIM cards were used, were destroyed by the accused,” Singh said.
The probe agency also claimed to have detained a person from Ahmedabad who allegedly provided SIM cards to the accused.
ATS interrogated Vaze on March 8, following a statement by Vimla, Hiran’s wife, accusing the suspended cop of having a hand in her husband’s death.
Her statement also revealed that Vaze and Hiran knew each other well and that Vaze had borrowed the Scorpio that was later found outside Antilia, for four months between November 2020 and February 2021. He returned it to Hiran in early February.
Hiran reported the car stolen on February 18.
Following Vimla’s statement, ATS registered a case of murder against unknown persons.
“In interrogation, Vaze refuted all the allegations leveled against him. He claimed that the vehicle in question (Mahindra Scorpio) had never been in his possession and also maintained that he had nothing to do with the deceased. He denied having any involvement in the said crime and that he had no knowledge about the said crime. But ATS officials have collected evidence showing that the claims made by Vaze are false and further probe is on to find out his exact involvement in the said crime,” Singh said.
The ATS chief said that it was Vaze who contacted Shinde when the latter walked out of jail on parole last year and took his help, he said.
According to ATS, Shinde contacted Hiran, posing as “Tawde saab from Mumbai crime branch”on the evening of March 4, the day before Hiran’s body was found in a Thane creek.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that Shinde along with others was involved. A Volvo car seized from Daman is suspected to have been used in the crime,” the ATS chief said.
The Forensic Science Laboratory at Kalina in Mumbai examined the car on Tuesday, he added.
A team of five forensic officers from Pune also visited Thane on Tuesday afternoon along with ATS officials. The forensic team examined the blue coloured Volvo seized by ATS. The officials refused to talk but collected several samples from the car for over two hours.
“The team did not find any documents or equipments in the car. They were collecting fingerprints, footprints and any other forensic evidence which will help in the investigation,” an official said.
ATS has also obtained CCTV footage from various spots even though the accused destroyed some CCTV footage in a bid to destroy evidence of their movement, officials said.
“To understand how exactly the crime was committed, a demonstration was conducted by taking the arrested accused at the crime scene. Analysis of the information collected by raiding the residences, offices and godowns of the arrested accused is going on,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, NIA is also conducting a parallel probe in the Hiran murder case as well as the explosives case. A team searched the premises of a room in Trident hotel, where Vaze reportedly stayed between February 16 and 20. According to a senior NIA officer, CCTV footage from the hotel shows Vaze entering with five bags. The bags are yet to be recovered, this officer added.
