Sachin Waze case: Did Mumbai police delay ATS probe?

ATS officers tell mid-day they wrote thrice to the Mumbai police under then commissioner Param Bir Singh seeking visual data, but we never given any

The Maharashtra ATS that initially probed the Antilia bomb scare case gave four letters to the Mumbai police commissioner’s office seeking CCTV footage of premises but did not receive any response, sources have told mid-day.

In its letters, the Anti-Terrorism Squad asked the police chief’s office to preserve the footage of the entry and exit gates of 45 days before and after the February 25 Antilia episode. IPS officer Parambir Singh was the city’s police commissioner at the time. Sources have also told this newspaper the explosives-laden Scorpio that was found near Mukesh Ambani’s home was at the police commissioner’s office between February 19-21.

A photo of the Innova secretly clicked inside the compound of the police chief’s office

Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was later found dead in a creek in Mumbra, had filed a complaint with the Vikhroli police alleging that his Scorpio, which he had parked on a road after it developed a snag on February 17, had gone missing. 

“The Scorpio was taken to Waze’s residence in Thane and it was parked there till February 19. The same vehicle was taken to the [police] commissioner’s office and was parked there till February 21. It was then taken to Waze’s Thane residence. The Scorpio was finally driven towards Antilia on February 24 and was being tailed by an Innova,” said an ATS officer.

The National Investigation Agency, which later took over the probe, believes a close aide of Waze was at the wheel of the Scorpio, while Waze was inside the Innova, which was being driven by a Mumbai Crime Branch officer.

It was Waze who was first asked to probe the case before it was transferred to Crime Branch ACP Nitin Alaknure. The government tasked the ATS with the investigation following allegations by Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis. It was finally passed on to the NIA on March 8.

Few CCTVs at CP’s office

Sources said the ATS learnt that the entire campus of the police chief’s office had no CCTV working cameras apart from the entry and exit gates. There were two camera premises but they were not working for a long time.

Since the ATS did not have footage to corroborate the suspicion that the Innova belonged to the Crime Intelligence Unit headed by Waze, it launched a secret operation and sent its men to click the pictures of all Innovas parked there. ATS officers then began tailing Waze and his team to keep a tab on them, but Waze claimed that two unknown vehicles were following them with fake number plates which later turned out to be Juhu ATS’s vehicles.

By the team the ATS got a confirmation that Innova indeed belonged to Waze’s team, the case was already transferred to the NIA. The ATS was then probing Hiran’s murder and had questioned Waze on March 7 after recording the statement of the victim’s wife Vimla Hiran.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant recently said he had information that the digital video recorder (DVR) of Mumbai police commissioner’s was missing. “This is something very serious, the Mumbai police should respond to that,” Sawant told mid-day. Sawant’s comments prompted Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale to call for a meeting of senior officers where they apparently discussed launching an internal probe. Calls and messages to Nagrale for an update on the internal probe remained unanswered.

NIA seizes another vehicle

NIA officers said they are collecting CCTV footage, including that from the police chief’s office. “As of now, we don’t have any information that DVRs are missing from the commissioner office,” said an NIA officer. 

Meanwhile, the agency has seized a Mitsubishi Outlander found near Shitaldhara Housing Society, Sector 7, Kamothe. The car is registered in the name of Sachin Waze. The building guard said the car was earlier parked inside the society for a few days but was taken outside two weeks ago. It was used by an CIU officer who is believed to have purchased it from Waze. The NIA is probing if this car was used to kill Mansukh Hiran. So far, the agency has seized 6 cars including a Mercedes and a Parado. It is looking for an Audi and a Skoda.

Rtd HC judge to probe Deshmukh charges

The state government has appointed retired HC Justice Kailash Chandiwal to probe the corruption allegations Mumbai’s former police chief levelled against state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. The one-man panel has been given six months to file its report.The notification came a day before the hearing of ex-CP Param Bir Singh’s petition in the HC on Wednesday, seeking a CBI inquiry into his allegations. Earlier this month, Singh wrote an eight-page letter to the CM and the governor, accusing Deshmukh of several malpractices. He claimed that Deshmukh had made a plan to extract R100 crore per month from city hotels, bars and restaurants by pressing the then assistant police inspector Sachin Waze into service. Deshmukh had requested the CM to initiate an inquiry against him.

7 March
When ATS questioned Waze

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!