In a sensational development in the Antilia bomb scare case, video footage recorded outside the Crime Branch has been recovered in which the tainted Mumbai Cop and former Shiv Sena leader Sachin Vaze was seen with Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the bomb-laden Scorpio. Mansukh Hiren had died under mysterious circumstances earlier this month.
According to Republic TV, Sachin Vaze, the prime accused in the Antilia bomb scare case, was seen arriving at the Crime Branch unit in a Land Cruiser Prado along with Mansukh Hiren. The footage was recorded on February 26, a day after the bomb-laden Scorpio was detected outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai.
In the video, Mumbai Police API Sachin Vaze was seen driving Mansukh Hiren to the crime branch. Mansukh Hiren was seen sitting next to Vaze in the Land Cruiser Prado – the vehicle which has been seized by the NIA. On Thursday, the National Investigation Agency had seized two more luxury cars – a Mercedes Benz ML 250 CDI and a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado GRJ 120 R in the Antilia bomb scare case, which are suspected to be linked to API Sachin Vaze.
The Prado with registration number MH02CC101 is registered in Borivali in Mumbai, and its owner, as per official records, is Vijaykumar Ganpat Bhosle, a Shiv Sena leader. In his affidavit for the 2014 assembly election, Bhosle had listed this same car in the list of automobiles owned by him. The Mercedes car with registration number MH43AR8697 is registered in Vashi RTO in Navi Mumbai in the name of Narmada Offshore Construction Pvt Ltd.
The above footage indicates that Vaze was in touch with the deceased businessman Mansukh Hiren a day after his bomb-laden car was parked outside Mukesh Hiren’s residence. The fact that Vaze was using a high-end SUV owned by a Shiv Sena leader shows how closely he is associated with the party.
NIA also seized Mercedes, unaccounted cash from Vaze
Earlier this week, the NIA officials had seized a black Mercedes car used by the tainted Mumbai cop from the Crawford market area. The NIA officials had recovered the fake number plate attached to the suspicious Scorpio car from the Mercedes car. In addition to the number plate, the officials also recovered unaccounted cash of Rs 5 lakh, a few clothes and a cash counting machine from the car.
The NIA had carried out searches at the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) situated in Mumbai Police headquarters, where Vaze served until last week.
In the search operation that went on till Tuesday, the NIA seized a laptop, an iPad, a phone, a DVR and CCTV footage of the Vaze’s residence in the Saket building in Thane. The DVR seizure is crucial as Vaze reportedly kept the Scorpio in his society for some time.
Sachin Vaze’s connection in the Antilia Bomb scare case
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a sensational disclosure on March 5 in Vidhan Sabha when he claimed that Assistant Police officer Sachin Vaze was in touch with Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the Scorpio car that was found laden with explosives outside the Ambani residence.
Fadnavis has alleged conspiracy behind the attack against Mukesh Ambani, alleging that it could not be a coincidence that the car was stolen from Thane, the route they followed was also from Thane, and the IO investigating the case also lived in Thane.
Shortly after Fadnavis’ revelation, Mansukh Hiren was found in a creek in Thane. Hiren’s wife has accused Vaze of murdering her husband. The case was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Squad on March 6, and Vaze was removed from the Mumbai Police Crime Branch after his name surfaced in connection with the matter.
