Bomb scare-murder cases: Sachin Waze sent to judicial custody till April 23

A special court on Friday sent suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Waze to judicial custody till April 23 after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) did not seek his further custody.

Waze was arrested on March 13 by the central agency in connection with his alleged role in planting of gelatin sticks in an SUV near the residence of Mukesh Ambani in South Mumbai on February 25.

On Friday, after Waze was produced in court, special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves said that the NIA wanted to bring to the notice of the court that on the last hearing on April 7, a letter written by Waze was circulated.

Gonsalves said that while the court had allowed Waze to give whatever he wanted to say in writing, he was asked to follow procedure. He said this was not done and the letter written by Waze, given to his lawyers, was circulated. He said the court had not taken the letter on record as it was not done as per procedure, but it was nonetheless made public. Gonsalves added that it was a serious matter since Waze was in NIA custody when this happened and the agency was not aware about this. He said that while Waze was allowed to speak to his legal team for five minutes, its “disadvantage” was taken.

Special judge Prashant R Sitre rapped Waze and his legal team, asking them to follow proper procedure. “You have a right to make the submissions you want to. But why did you not adopt procedure as per the Criminal Procedure Code required in cases be it confessions or anything else? Ensure that this does not happen again,” the court said.

A letter written by Waze with allegations against former home minister Anil Deshmukh and Transport Minister Anil Parab was circulated after the hearing on Wednesday.

Senior counsel Aabad Ponda appearing for Waze said that he personally was not aware and was surprised.

Ponda also filed a plea on behalf of Waze seeking to ensure that he is given a secure cell in the jail. Ponda said that since he had investigated many cases, Waze had apprehension of danger to his life. The court directed jail authorities to ensure that his security and safety is taken care of.

The NIA said that as per directions of the court during the last hearing, Waze was taken for a medical report and the doctors had said that he did not at present require any cardiological intervention. Waze’s lawyers had sought an angiography citing his history of cardiac ailment. Waze is likely to be lodged in Taloja central jail.

On Friday, the court also allowed the CBI to access relevant documents seized by the NIA in the case from Waze and co-accused related to its preliminary inquiry into allegations against former minister Deshmukh made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.