Antilia bomb case: The NIA has stumbled upon a new piece of proof which suggests that suspended Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze was organizing an encounter to claim that he had cracked the Antilia bomb scare case. An explosive-laden Scorpio was identified close to industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s home and Vaze, then head of the criminal intelligence unit, was produced the investigating officer by then Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. But his strategy went haywire as the central agency stepped in to probe the terror angle in the case.
During a search operation, the NIA had recovered a passport from Vaze’s home on March 17. reports that now the central investigating agency is searching at different possibilities, and of them is that Vaze intended to remove the passport holder along with one more man. The passport holder and the other individual had a criminal background and they have been recognized to Vaze. According to the report, the agency is suspecting that Vaze’s strategy was to gun down the two guys the similar day and claim to have “solved” the case.
Based on proof collected so far, the NIA suspects that the original strategy was to get the two guys to drive a Maruti Eeco, which had been stolen from Aurangabad, and park it outdoors Antilia with an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). The NIA identified the vehicle’s quantity plate from Mithi river, sources told IE. But for different motives, Sachin Vaze could not devote sufficient time to coordinate this strategy. Vaze was heading lots of other essential investigations as head of the CIU.
When this strategy couldn’t be executed, Vaze and the other accused then decided to use the Scorpio that was becoming made use of by Mansukh Hiren. However, the report says, strategy to allegedly “eliminate” the two guys in a fake encounter could not be executed as Vaze lost handle of the investigation inside hours of the automobile becoming identified outdoors Antilia as the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) took more than the case.
An officer familiar with the probe told IE that the strategy went haywire on day one itself right after the ATS tracked a sticker on the SUV and identified that it belonged to Hiren. The officer mentioned that they (accused) had changed quantity plates and even scratched the chassis quantity of the Scorpio. However, by means of a sticker of an insurance coverage corporation on the automobile, the ATS tracked it down to Hiren, which derailed their strategy, the officer told IE.
“So far, it appears that they wanted to encounter the two persons and show that they had averted the threat. Apart from being hailed as heroes, they may have been planning to use it for some profit,” the officer was quoted as saying by IE. After their initial strategy did not work out, the investigators think that Vaze and the co-accused started destroying proof that could hyperlink them to the incident, such as CCTV footage.
The agency believes that Vaze feared that Hiren may possibly spill the beans through investigation and that is why he personally took more than his interrogation. But when Vaze realised the case could be transferred, , the report says, he allegedly decided with his other accomplices to remove Hiren. To guard himself, Vaze also recommended Hiren create a letter stating he was beneath mental stress. “The plan was to make it look like a suicide,” the officer told IE.
Hiren was identified dead in a creek close to Thane on March 5, just a week right after his automobile was identified parked close to Antilia.