NIA raids Sachin Waze’s office at police HQ, another CIU API under scanner

The National Investigation Agency NIA on Tuesday carried out searches at the office of the Crime Intelligence Unit CIU on the fourth floor of Mumbai Police Headquarters at Crawford Market Apart from suspended police officer Sachin Waze Assistant Police Inspector API Riyazuddin Kazi of the CIU is also under the NIArsquos scanner In another development the NIA seized a Mercedes which was allegedly used by Waze and in which was found the original number plate of the Scorpio that was planted outside the Ambani residence on Feb 5The man captured in CCTV camera footage outside Antilia on Feb 25 is believed to be Sachin WazeThe NIA has also seized a Mercedes registered in the name of a Manisha Bhavsar This is because according to sources Waze came to the Commissioner of Police office in the Mercedes on Saturday March 13 and then went to the NIA for questioningThe agency suspects that Waze met Mansukh Hiran in the same vehicle on February 17 when Hiran came to South Mumbai in an Ola after parking his Scorpio near Vikhroli ldquoDuring the meet Hiran allegedly gave the keys of the Scorpio to Waze who gave them to someone else This person reached Vikhroli and took the car to Vazersquos residence in Thanerdquo an NIA officer saidThe NIA has also discovered that Hiran travelled from CSMT to Thane in the same Mercedes The vehicle was seized from a parking lot ldquoThe vehicle was searched in front of Waze and we found Rs 570000 in cash a cash counting machine the original number plate of the Scorpio found near Antilia some clothes and bottles of kerosene and dieselrdquo the officer said The clothes are the ones Waze was wearing on February 24 The Scorpio car was left outside Antilia early on February 25lsquoWaze was outside AntiliarsquoA senior NIA officer confirmed to midday that the man near Antilia in the CCTV footage on February 25 was Waze but he was not wearing a PPE suit What was thought to be a PPE suit was in fact a white kurta and Waze had covered his face with another white cloth ldquoWaze burnt the clothes somewhere using diesel or kerosene He had admitted everythingrdquo an NIA officer saidThe Mercedes seized by NIA hadldquoWe suspect that the kerosene and diesel were used to destroy multiple pieces of evidence including the kurta he allegedly wore on February 25 and was seen walking in near Antiliardquo the officer addedOn February 18 Hiran registered a theft case with Vikhroli police The offence was registered although he was not the owner of the vehicle but had insurance in his name ldquoIf there is any negligence we will take departmental actionrdquo a senior officer of the Mumbai police saidAccording to Vikhroli police Hiran came to the police station at 2 pm and a constable went to the spot with him They visited the dumping yard and traffic police chowki and at 8 pm he came back to the police station and an FIR was regsitered Mumbai police sources confirmed that the case was registered without any pressure but some calls were made regarding the case on February 27 which are being probed nowAllegations against othersNIA officers also confirmed that seven personnel from Mumbai police have been questioned including API Kazi API Prakash Howal three CIU staff and two drivers of the Innova An ACP and a PI rank officer have also been questionedAccording to sources there are serious allegations against API Kazi who went to take the at Wazersquos residence at Saket Cooperative Housing Society Thane ldquoKazi went to the building and gave officials a handwritten letter signed by him not Waze seeking the DVR that contained CCTV footage of the building compound and outer area This was never shown as seized property in the case but a mention has been made in the case diaryrdquo a Crime Branch officer said The DVR has been sent for forensic analysisOfficers said that Kazi is also suspected to be the one who made the fake number plates and took the DVRs of the shops where he got them made ldquoSometimes Crime Branch uses fake number plates for operations but an officer has to justify the same In this case some offence has been committedrdquo an officer saidCIU raidAccording to sources NIA informed senior officers of Mumbai police before carrying out the raids at the CIU office Waze had 2025 staff working under him ldquoThe NIA has seized some documents laptop mobile phone and an iPad belonging to Wazerdquo a Mumbai police officer said The NIA team reached the place around 8 pm on Monday and were done on Tuesday around 4 amOfficers kept in the darkSources in the Mumbai police said that Waze and his team always kept senior officers in the dark by saying the vehicles involved in the bomb scare were untraceable beyond Thane ldquoAfter Devendra Fadanvis raised allegations in the assembly he was questioned by senior officers but he denied the allegations by saying that he is being targeted for political purposerdquo a crime branch officer saidOn February 27 when Hiran was being questioned by Crime Branch officers Waze told them that he was an acquaintance However officials didnrsquot suspect anything at the time They became suspicious of Waze only after Hiranrsquos body was found