MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad told the Thane sessions court on Friday that they require the custody of assistant police inspector Sachin Waze to unearth his involvement in the conspiracy connected to the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran, whose Scorpio laden with explosives was found abandoned near Mukesh Ambani’s residence on February 25. The court will hear the matter on March 30.
On Friday night, the NIA team took Waze to the spot outside Antilia to recreate the scene of crime. Waze was asked to walk a couple of times and then walk with a PPE kit on. The entire thing was video-recorded, a police officer said. Police were also deployed near the spot. Videos from February 25 have shown a man wearing a PPE kit walking across.
The ATS opposed Waze’s plea for pre-arrest bail in the case and it wants to know what happened to Hiran from the night of March when he left his home to March 5, when his body was found in a creek in Mumbra.
An NIA team led by an IG-level officer visits the Mumbai police HQ on FridayWaze is in custody of the NIA till March 25 for its case of planting the explosives. The ATS mentioned in their application that they want to know the location of the Scorpio from the 18th to the 25th of February after it was stolen from Vikhroli. They also want to recover the gold chain, gold ring, wristwatch, some cash and the mobile phone of Hiran. The Anti-Terrorism Squad has in a sealed envelope submitted the findings of its investigation to the court. “Waze had on March 8 appeared at the ATS office and gave his statement in our case. However, we found differences in his statement and the findings in our investigation. Hence we seek his custody,” an ATS officer told TOI.
The ATS has also recorded statements of some doctors who carried out the postmortem on Hiran’s body and some policemen from Mumbra police station, who had carried out the inquest panchnama after Hiran’s body was recovered. Waze’s advocate Aarti Kalekar told the court that Waze’s sister, Anuradha Hatkar has filed an intervention application. She has alleged harassment of the family by the media.
Meanwhile, an NIA team led by Anil Shukla, inspector general of police, visited the Mumbai police headquarters on Friday afternoon and met the newly-appointed police commissioner, Hemant Nagrale. Besides, a six-member team of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) from Pune arrived at NIA’s Mumbai office and collected spare parts of the seized Innova for forensic examination in the explosives scare case. The Innova, a property of Mumbai police, was used to accompany the Scorpio on the night of February 25. The Mumbai FSL has examined the Scorpio. It is also carrying out analysis on the viscera samples of Hiran.
Meanwhile, on Friday, special NIA court judge Prashant Sitre rejected Waze’s fresh plea to allow him to consult with his lawyers privately while in custody. He said the court’s order passed on Tuesday was clear and in keeping with the law, had permitted his lawyer to be present at a visible length but out of earshot while being interrogated by the investigating officer.