SUV bomb threat case: Second serving officer of Mumbai police arrested

The National Investigation Agency NIA on Sunday arrested a second serving officer of Mumbai police Assistant Police Inspector API Riyazuddin Qazi in connection with the Ambani bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases Qazi was closely associated with the prime accused suspended API Sachin Waze and was allegedly a part of all important investigations carried out by him including the TRP scamSuspended API Sachin WazeAccording to the NIA Qazi was questioned multiple times including a confrontation with Waze who is in judicial custody Initially the agency thought of making him a witness but further probe revealed that he was well aware and even part of the conspiracy ldquoHe was not only part of the entire conspiracy but there is strong evidence to suggest how he destroyed evidence on Wazersquos instructionsrdquo an NIA officer saidAccording to the NIA Qazi allegedly took the Digital Video Recorders DVR from important locations where the making of the fake number plates and the Scorpio were capturedAccording to sources the Maharashtra ATS during its probe had found a crucial link and given the same to NIA when the case was transferred Sources in both agencies confirmed that on March 6 Waze and Qazi were seen meeting a person in an Audi car in Nagpada ldquoThe person was known to Waze The duo took petrol in a bottle and a hammer from the person The hammer was later used to destroy evidence The evidence including a laptop DVR CPU and hard disk was recovered from Mithi river and was completely damaged We believe that the hammer was used to damage the evidence and thrown into the riverrdquo an NIA officer saidAPI Riyazuddin Qazi in white shirt outside the NIA officeThe petrol bottle was found inside the Mercedes car seized by the NIA The petrol and diesel were used to burn other crucial evidence which includes the kurta Waze wore near Antilia as seen in CCTV camera footageNIA has recorded the statement of the person from Nagpada This statement led to Qazirsquos arrestQazirsquos remand hearingQazi was produced before the Special NIA holiday court on Sunday Special Public Prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves said that Qazi is a coconspirator in the case ldquoHe knows the structure and design of the conspiracyrdquo Gonsalves told the courtThe NIA had demanded a 10day custody but was given a fiveday remandldquoThe duo started to destroy the evidence after the case was handed over to NIA on March 8 Qazi was well aware of the entire matter because the Scorpio which was used to plant the gelatin sticks outside Antilia and regarding which a theft case had been registered at Vikhroli police station was parked at Wazersquos apartment in Thane but he did not raise an alarmrdquo Gonsalves told the courtThe Mercedes car in which NIA found the petrol bottle which Waze and Qazi allegedly procured from someone in Nagpada File picGonsalves added that Qazi was present at all locations where the pieces of evidence were destroyed He is also accused of disposing of the CPU and DVR recovered from the riverGonsalves said that Waze has spilt the beans during his interrogation but Qazirsquos custody is needed for further clarityThe NIA has collected data from multiple DVRs of CCTV cameras and the collective quantity of the footage is a whopping 112 TBCountering the allegations Qazirsquos defence counsel argued that his client has been made a lsquoscapegoatrsquo in the caseldquoMy client has maintained a diary entry of everything he has done while working with Wazerdquo defence counsel Hasnain Kazi told the court The defence lawyer further argued that his client has been cooperating with NIA for 20 days ldquoHe has also helped the NIA officers collect evidence related to the caserdquo Kazi said ldquoHe also made a diary entry of the evidence mdash DVR and a diary mdash which he collected from Sadguru hotel on March 3 Had he been part of the crime why would he make a station diary entry which can be used against himrdquo the defence lawyer arguedThe DVR from Wazersquos placeldquoA diary was made of all the property that has been seized during the Antilia probe but some evidence was not shown in the seized property which includes the DVR from Wazersquos residencerdquo an officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch told middayAPI Qazi allegedly forcefully took the DVR from Wazersquos Thane residence Saket apartment two days after the Scorpio was found outside Antilia He also collected pieces of evidence like CPU and CCTV footage from a shop in Mulund and made its station diary entryKazi added ldquoAll the official work was assigned by Waze and Qazi made a diary entry of everything Why would he maintain a record knowing it could be used against himrdquoThe arguments of both sides lasted for around 45 minutes Qazi has been remanded to NIA custody till April 16Both Qazi and Waze worked in the Crime Intelligence Unit CIU of the Mumbai Crime Branch Following Wazersquos arrest he was transferred to the Local Arms unit of Mumbai police A senior Mumbai police officer confirmed that his suspension order will be issued on MondayWho is QaziQazi is a police officer of the 102nd batch and was recruited in 2010 after clearing MPSC exams He was first posted at Versova police station on probation and then transferred to the AntiChain Snatching squad of Mumbai Police From there he went to the CIUAccording to sources another APIrank officer who has worked with Waze and two constables are also under NIArsquos scanner and may be arrested in the coming daysFiveDaysrsquo custody granted to NIA by the court