Ambani bomb scare: ‘Hiren was dead before he was thrown into creek’, say cops

Mansukh Hiren

Mansukh Hiren, the 47-year-old businessman, whose Scorpio car was found outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence, was dead before he was thrown into a creek, the police revealed to his family.

Hiren's son carries out his father's final rites on Saturday evening. Pic/Rajesh's Gupta

According to the police, when Hiren's body was retrieved, his face was found covered in layers of handkerchief held together by a mask. The police said doctors have reserved their opinion on the cause of death.

Meanwhile, the family on Saturday morning had said that they wouldn't accept the body, until they received the post-mortem report. However, they accepted the body later in the evening, and performed the final rites.

Hiren's body was retrieved from Reti Bunder on Friday morning. The post-mortem was carried out the same evening, by a team of four forensic experts from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital, Kalwa. The entire process was video-graphed and blood samples and viscera were kept for analysis.

On Saturday afternoon, DCP (Zone 1) Avinash Ambure arrived at Hiren's residence and explained the findings of the post-mortem to the family. Speaking with mid-day, Hiren's elder brother Vinod said, "We have been told by the police that Mansukh was killed before he was thrown into the creek."

Mobile still untraceable
Hiren had left his office from Thane on Friday night and his mobile was switched off after 10.30 pm. During investigation, the police traced the mobile phone's last location to a village near Vasai. However, the police are yet to recover the mobile phone. The police are still trying to find out where Hiren's belongings were dumped, and how his body washed ashore at Reti Bunder. The crime branch is probing the matter along with the Mumbra Police. The Anti-Terrorist Squad officials visited Reti Bunder on Saturday morning, and are yet to take the investigation papers from Mumbai and Thane police.

Vaze meets Mumbai CP
After Opposition party leader Devendra Fadanavis raised questions about the involvement of Crime Intelligence Unit's Assistant Police Officer Sachin Vaze, the cop met Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday. The meeting went on for three hours. When questioned about how his name got linked with Hiren's death, Vaze said that the CP will be speaking about it. He also denied of knowing any officer named Tawde. The family had claimed that Hiren had received a call from a cop named Tawde from Kandivli Crime Branch Unit on Thursday night, and he had been asked to come to Ghodbunder Road for an inquiry. Hiren had gone missing soon after.

On February 25, an SUV was found abandoned outside Mukesh Ambani's residence, Antilla. On further inspection, officials recovered gelatin sticks and a threatening letter addressed to the Ambani family. The vehicle was later linked to Hiren. Incidentally, the businessman had lodged a complaint with the Vikhroli police a day earlier, about his vehicle going missing after he had left it on Eastern Express Highway, as the steering had developed a glitch.