In a recent chain of developments surrounding the Ambani house scare, the NIA or National Investigation Agency has arrested an Assistant Police Inspector of Maharashtra, Sachin Vaze, in connection with his involvement in planting the car loaded with explosives close to the owner of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani’s house in February.
After 12 hours of interrogation at the NIA’s centre, the officer was taken into custody late last night. He was brought to the office today morning for further questioning.
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The team Mr Vaze was heading last week was also asked to summon by the agency. On Wednesday, he was shifted from the CIU (Crime Intelligence Unit) to the CFC (Citizen Facilitation Centre).
The official has also been named under 2 cases by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the state. In the first one, he was alleged to have played a role in Mansukh Hiran’s death, a Thane-based businessman who was also the owner of the car found near the Ambani house on February 25th. The second case is related to the theft of the same car that was reported by the auto parts dealer on February 17th. While accusing Mr Vaze of having a part in her husband’s death, Mrs Hiran alleged that he had borrowed the Scorpio car for 4 months and returned it on February 5th.
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Politics has tuned in the case as the BJP is on their attack mode targeting the Shiv Sena government in the matter. The latter’s member Sanjay Raut was seen defending Mr Vaze as he said that there wasn’t any requirement of the NIA to enter the case.
“I believe Sachin Waze is a very honest and capable officer. He has been arrested in connection with gelatin sticks that were found. One suspicious death also occurred. It’s Mumbai Police’s responsibility to investigate the matter. No central team was needed,” Mr Raut said.
He added that the Centre’s repeated involvement in the state’s matters demoralises the Mumbai police and “creates instability”.
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“We respect NIA but our police could’ve done it too. Mumbai Police and ATS are well respected but central agencies repeatedly enter Mumbai and demoralise Mumbai Police. It creates instability in the state and creates pressure on Mumbai police and administration,” he said.
Mr Vaze submitted a plea for interim protection from arrest and bail in a district sessions court in Thane on Friday, stating the case against him to be “baseless” and a “witch-hunt”. However, the court rejected his application and stated the need for custodial questioning. His bail plea hearing is now slated for March 19th. Post the hearing, the NIA took him back to its office and resumed the interrogation with ATS joining in.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and leader of the opposition, Devendra Fadnavis, had demanded Mr Vaze’s arrest a day before he was shifted to the CFC. This move triggered a response from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as he said, “Sachin Vaze is not Osama Bin Laden. It is not right to target a person and hang him and then investigate.”
Today, the opposition BJP sought the subjection of Mr Vaze to narco-analysis, further alleging the involvement of the state government in protecting the officer. Mr Vaze had joined hands with Shiv Sena during an earlier suspension period.
“Is the government worried that if Sachin Vaze is questioned, the probe will reach the government with new revelations? Will the Maharashtra government have the courage to subject Sachin Vaze to a narco-test?” state BJP spokesperson Ram Kadam asked Chief Minister Thackeray today in a letter addressed to him.
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The Ambani house scare has witnessed many twists and turns as soon as the SUV was brought into the picture. Though it was found 1.4 km away from the Antila building, reports connected it with Ambanis and things got certain when a threat letter was found inside the car addressed to Mukesh Ambani and his wife. After contacting the owner of the car, Hiran, he claimed that the car had been stolen a week ago. Things got mysterious when he was found dead in a creek near Mumbra town on 5th March.
Though there have been declarations of planning the entire case, nothing concrete has been ascertained yet.
