Why did suspended police officer Sachin Vaze place 20 loose gelatin sticks inside a Scorpio and park it outside Antilia, home to Mukesh Ambani, in south Mumbai? According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the probe on March 9 after the Union home ministry took suo moto cognizance of the explosives case, Vaze did this to regain his lost glory. A top NIA official said that Vaze, who was at the time of the discovery heading the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Crime Branch, “wanted to prove to Mumbai Police brass that he is still as good, by solving a bomb conspiracy.”
The official said that Vaze planned the whole episode to plant explosives outside Antilia. “He wanted the limelight again,” he said. Vaze was arrested and suspended in 2004, in connection with the alleged custodial killing of a terror suspect. In 2007, he left the force, and joined the Shiv Sena shortly afterwards. In the meantime, he started dealerships in partnership and security services. Vaze was only reinstated in 2020, after the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress (Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi) came to power. Vaze was the lead investigator in the explosives case when it first came to light. It was later transferred to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), before the NIA took over. Vaze, however, has refuted this theory and maintains his innocence.
NIA slaps UAPA on Waze
The NIA invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Waze and others in the explosives case. Meanwhile, the anti-terrorism squad probe into the case reportedly indicates the conspiracy to murder businessman Mansukh Hiran was hatched by Waze and two of his colleagues at his office in the police headquarters. The explosives were placed in a Scorpio, owned by Hiran near Ambani's residence on February 25.
Waze wanted to show Hiran under stress
What they did first was to ask Hiran to draft a letter through an advocate, alleging he was facing pressure from the police and the media, which was not the case. According to the plan, Waze wanted to show that Hiran was under mental pressure and was likely to kill himself,” an ATS official said. The technical details gathered about his mobile location showed on March 4, Waze was at CIU and there was not a single incoming or outgoing call from his mobile phone while there were 8 messages from various marketing companies.
“All communication with accomplices was through SIM cards procured from Gujarat through an accomplice. During the interrogation of arrested constable Vinayak Shinde, it transpired that Waze was communicating with him with a SIM card procured from Gujarat,” an official said. “We believe that Waze himself called Hiran but told him to inform his wife that one inspector Tawde had called. This was done because the family was upset after Waze asked him to take responsibility for planting the explosives,” said an ATS official. Wasze was transferred after his name came up in the Hiren's death case.
Former top cop seeks probe against Anil Deshmukh
Former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh moved the Bombay High Court in a criminal PIL seeking a CBI probe into the alleged corruption charges against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Singh, who was shunted out as Mumbai Police Commissioner in the wake of the bomb scare case, has also challenged the government's order transferring him from the post. The ex-Mumbai top cop met a setback when the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea on the same and asked him to approach the Bombay High Court instead. The top court had said that the allegations and counter-allegations between Singh and Deshmukh are "serious" but the case should be heard by the HC first. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has been facing turmoil after Singh alleged that the state's home minister gave a target to cops to collect £10 million every month.
