Logbook had details of all private vehicles that entered compound in Feb, when bomb was planted near Antilia, says Maharashtra ATS
Sachin Waze outside the NIA office in south Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
A register at the Mumbai Commissioner of Police’s (CP) office, containing details of all the vehicles that entered the premises in February, has gone missing. According to sources, various high-end vehicles used by suspended officer Sachin Waze that are now in the NIA’s custody had been there. The Scorpio, found with explosives near Antilia that month, was also parked in the compound from February 21 to February 24.
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Sources in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said they had sought details of all the private vehicles that was on the CP’s office premises in February. “We have found out that the register for February is missing, and same has been communicated with the concerned department,” an ATS officer said.
The agency also learnt that the officer in-charge of noting down the details made copies of the entries before heading home. He has submitted the copies of February to the ATS.
Sachin Waze outside NIA office before being taken to the court, in south Mumbai, on Wednesday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Sources said the ATS had first written to the CP’s office asking for the register, but were verbally informed that it was missing. The ATS then asked Mumbai police to give it in writing, but they never did. Calls made to the office of Commissioner of Police Hemant Nagrale about the missing register went unanswered.
Hiran a conspirator: NIA
The NIA, for the first time, named Mansukh Hiran, the deceased businessman to whom the Scorpio belonged, a co-conspirator in the Antilia case. He helped Waze park the Scorpio at various locations, said the agency. Later, on March 2 and March 3, a conspiracy was hatched to kill Hiran, it added.
Ex-top cop quizzed
Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has recorded the statement of former police chief Param Bir Singh in connection with the Antilia case. After Singh, former assistant commissioner of police and encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma was also seen entering the NIA office. A senior NIA officer told mid-day that they called for certain clarity in the ongoing probe. The officer refused to say if they were suspects in the case. Singh left the NIA office after around three and a half hours, and Sharma after seven hours.
The Scorpio car, which was found near Antilia with explosives, was parked at the CP’s office from February 21 to February 24. File pic
On Wednesday, the NIA also produced Waze and other accused Vinayak Shinde and Naresh Gor before the special court for further remand. Shinde and Gor were sent in judicial remand as the agency didn’t ask for their custody.
Waze in NIA remand till Apr 9
The NIA, however, sought Waze’s custody for four more days and told the court that he was dodging the investigating officer. The court extended his custody till April 9.
The public prosecutor, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, also told the court that the NIA has found out about a bank account, which belongs to Waze and a company, with a balance of R1.5 crore. “An accomplice’s statement has been recorded, in which he said that the R1.5 crore belonged to Waze,” Singh told the court. Waze had also given R36 lakh and R46 lakh to the accomplice, the NIA informed the court.
“We have found that the money was given to the women seen with Waze in the footage of a CCTV camera of a five star hotel,” an NIA officer said. The NIA needs to find out how an API rank officer came in possession of such an amount and whether it was extortion money, Singh said. “We also have to find out if the same money was used in procuring the gelatin sticks,” he added. “We need to unearth the terror conspiracy and find other suspects as well, and also find out who financed this [bomb scare] to create terror in the minds of people.”
CBI to quiz Waze
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating former CP Singh’s allegations against former home minister Anil Deshmukh, has got the permission to record Waze’s statement. The CBI had moved an application before the NIA court on Wednesday. The court has asked the CBI to coordinate with the NIA to record his statement.
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