ORIGINAL NUMBER PLATE OF HIREN’S SUV FOUND INSIDE VAZE’S MERCEDES: NIA

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday seized a Mercedes car belonging to Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze. NIA claimed to have found in the car the original number plate of the explosives-laden Scorpio, which was found outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s residence. They also recovered Rs 5 lakh from the vehicle after searching Vaze’s office from where “incriminating” documents were recovered.

The owner of the Scorpio, Mansukh Hiren, was found dead inside Mumbra creek on 5 March. Hiren’s wife has accused Vaze of killing him. Hiren was one of the persons linked to the bomb threat to Mukesh Ambani.

The NIA team allegedly recovered some “incriminating” documents and electronic evidence such as laptop, iPad and mobile phones from Vaze’s office there, an official of the probe agency said on Tuesday. A black Mercedes car, which was being used by Vaze, was also seized from a parking lot near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), and Rs 5 lakh in cash, a note-counting machine, two number plates and some clothes were recovered from it, said NIA’s Inspector General Anil Shukla.

The SUV, which contained the explosives and parked outside the Antilia, was registered in the name of Hiren Mansukh. A few days later, Hiren was found dead in a creek in Thane. The diatom test report has suggested that he was alive when he fell into the water. It has been identified that a proportion of creek water has been detected in his lungs. The viscera and nail samples have been sent for further investigation.

“Sachin (Vaze) had worn oversized kurta-pyjama to hide his body language and had covered his head and face with a cloth as to not reveal his identity,” said the NIA. Vaze is being probed by the NIA in connection with the explosives-laden car found outside Ambani’s home. He was arrested on Saturday after 11 hours of questioning and the interrogation and grilling continue. The latest developments reveal that NIA has found more cars that may belong to the Mumbai cop. He was sent to NIA custody until 25 March for further questioning.

The Maharashtra government transferred Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the post and Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale was made the new Mumbai Police chief.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS