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Updated March 30th, 2021 at 13:07 IST

In Mansukh Hiren case, ATS to give NIA custody of man who supplied Sachin Vaze SIM cards

In the latest development in the Mansukh Hiren murder probe, the person who reportedly gave suspended API Sachin Vaze SIM cards will be handed over to the NIA

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
Credits: PTI / Twitter / Republicworld.com
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In the latest development in the Mansukh Hiren murder probe, the person who reportedly gave now suspended Mumbai Police API Sachin Vaze SIM cards will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday. Mumbai Police's ATS, which currently has the person who provided SIM cards to Sachin Vaze in its custody, will hand him over to the NIA which is probing the Mansukh Hiren murder probe and the Antilia bomb scare. Meanwhile, ATS ACP Sripad Kale reached the NIA office on Tuesday to share more details on the Mansukh Hiren murder probe (which ATS was previously handling until NIA took over) with the agency. As per sources, others, including a resident of Borivali, have been called by the NIA on Tuesday for interrogation.

As per inputs, the SIM-card supplier is Kishore Thakkar who was picked up by ATS from Yash Township in Gujarat. Thakkar allegedly bought SIM cards in his staffers' names and gave it to bookie Naresh Dhare who further supplied the same to Sachin Vaze. Dhare and suspended cop Vinayak Shinde had also earlier been arrested by the ATS.

NIA recovers evidences from river bed

The National Investigative Agency (NIA) recovered two number plates from the Mithi river on Sunday, with the help of 11 divers in the presence of ex-Mumbai API Sachin Vaze. The number of both license plates are identical and is said to belong to a vehicle that was stolen from Auranganabad and was blacklisted by the Regional Transport Office on November 17, 2020. Besides the number plates, two CCTV DVRs, two CPUs, a hard disk, a laptop and a printer among other pieces of evidence were also recovered from the river, which were allegedly thrown into the river as part of 'evidence destruction' by Vaze's aide API Riyaz Kazi.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Republic (@republicworld)

Earlier on Sunday, CCTV footage at a number plate shop was accessed by Republic TV in which Riyaz Kazi was seen entering a number plate shop in Mumbai and have a conversation with the owner of the outlet. He was also seen taking away DVDs and a computer from the shop, which he later allegedly destroyed at the Mithi river. Riyaz Kazi was previously summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Mumbai Police's ATS in connection with the Antilia bomb scare probe and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren. Both ATS and NIA reportedly suspect that Kazi helped Sachin Vaze get the fake number plates. There was word earlier that Kazi may turn approver.

Sachin Vaze, Antilia & Mansukh Hiren

On February 25, at around 3 PM, a car (green Scorpio) laden with explosive gelatin sticks along with a threatening letter was found by Mumbai Police, outside the Ambani residence - Antilia. A primary investigation from the CCTV revealed that the car had been parked near the residence since 1 AM, intervening night on between Wednesday-Thursday. Later on March 5, Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the car in question, was found dead at the Kalwa creek - with police claiming that he committed suicide by jumping into the stream. With the deceased wife alleging murder, Maharashtra ATS probed and arrested a bookie and convicted cop Vinayak Shinde in connection with Hiren's murder.

Meanwhile, then-Mumbai API Sachin Vaze was arrested by NIA on March 13 for his alleged involvement in placing explosives in the aforementioned car and has been sent to custody till April 3, invoking UAPA against Vaze. While Vaze has been suspended again from police service, his superior - Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh has been transferred to Home Guards due to 'lapses' in the probe. He has sent an 8-page letter to CM Thackeray, HM Anil Deshmukh and Gov Koshyari alleging that Deshmukh had demanded Vaze to collect Rs 100 crores from 1750 pubs in Mumbai per month - which has been refuted by NCP.

Moreover, while handing over the Hiren murder case to NIA, Maharashtra ATS has stated to a Thane court Vaze's raid at a bar on the intervening night of Feb 4 & 5 had been no more than a ruse. NIA, which has seized Sachin Vaze's laptop, some mobile phones, iPad, and documents from his office has also seized several luxury cars from Vaze's office and home - including a black Mercedes and White Landcruiser Prado - in which Hiren was seen travelling with Vaze. NIA has claimed that Sachin Vaze had worn excessive-sized clothes (kurta-pyjamas) to conceal his identity on February 25 when the explosives-laden car was seen near Antilla, citing CCTV footage from the site.

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Published March 30th, 2021 at 13:07 IST

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