Param Bir Singh interrogated: Everything asked by NIA in the solid Sachin Vaze case

In a breaking and unexpected development on Wednesday morning, ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has reached the National Investigation Agency (NIA) office in Mumbai even as suspended API Sachin Vaze is set to be produced at an NIA court later in the day on account of his current custody ending.

Top sources have informed that Param Bir Singh is likely to record his statement with the agency which is probing the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren and the Anitilia bomb scare case. He is likely to be interrogated on the re-instatement of Sachin Vaze in the Mumbai Police force after nearly 16 years out following his suspension due to an alleged fake encounter case, the fact that Sachin Vaze worked under and reported to Param Bir, and on how a growing number of luxury cars linked to Sachin Vaze were seen parked at the Mumbai CP's premises, and whether or not he was aware of this.

Param Bir Singh enters Vazegate probe

Param Bir Singh's visit to the NIA offices comes ahead of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recording the statement of advocate Jaishri Patil who had filed a PIL at the Bombay HC following which the court directed the central agency to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the corruption allegations levelled by Param Bir Singh against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. 

Meanwhile, sources have informed that  Sachin Vaze's personal driver was interrogated by the NIA for six hours on Tuesday. The driver, who has been serving Vaze since 2012, was also reportedly in the active employment of the suspended API when the latter was surreptitiously leaving CST station on March 4. Sachin Vaze's driver was summoned on Tuesday after the new evidence was uncovered on Monday night following the recreation of Vaze at CST railway station and Kalwa station. 

Sachin Vaze's March 4 plan uncovered

In a sensational development in the Vazegate scandal, Republic accessed CCTV footage from March 4 in which suspended Mumbai Police API Sachin Vaze is seen near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) - the same day that businessman Mansukh Hiren was found dead. In a late-night development in the probe into the Mansukh Hiren murder and the Antilia bomb scare probe on Monday and the early hours of Tuesday, the NIA had taken Sachin Vaze to CST railway station and Kalwa railway station and recreated the crime scene. Since then, Republic has accessed the 40-second-long CCTV footage from March 4 where Sachin Vaze is seen near the CST station. 

As per sources, Sachin Vaze exited the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) office at 6.30 pm on March 4 following which he reportedly scaled the walls of the Mumbai Police headquarters to avoid the CCTV cameras and exited through the Social Service branch's canteen side and reached the CST station at around 7 pm. As per sources, Sachin Vaze, in connection with whom 7 cars and one bike have been seized and one car remains at large, then proceeded to take a train to Thane and reached the destination at 8.10 pm following which he made a phone call via a SIM card provided to him by bookie Naresh - who is currently in NIA custody.

As per reports, Sachin Vaze, accompanied by constable Vinayak Shinde, then met businessman Mansukh Hiren following which he is said to have reached Byculla at 9.20 pm and is said to have called his aide Riyaz Kazi to ask him to bring his mobile phone to the Dongri Police Station. As per sources, Sachin Vaze's attempt to call Kazi to Dongri Police Station was an alleged attempt made by the now-suspended API to hoodwink investigation agencies by creating an alibi for himself. Sources added that other police officials were also involved in the act apart from the bookies and Vaze's associates, and that later in the night, Vaze had raided a Mumbai night-club in a further effort to leave a false breadcrumb trail, which also included his mobile phone being switched on briefly by an associate far away from where his actual location is believed to have been.

Anil Deshmukh moves Supreme Court

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh moved to the Supreme Court to challenge the Bombay High Court order and criticised the judgment while raising questions over the central agency CBI's credentials. The petition filed by the former Maharashtra Home Minister, which was accessed by Republic Media Network, is likely to be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday with Congress' legal eagle Abhishek Manu Singhvi representing the petitioner. In the petition filed in the Supreme Court, Deshmukh has questioned the conduct of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, stating that his credentials cannot be taken at face value. Seeking to quash the CBI probe ordered, the ex-Home Minister cites that a High Court-monitored probe could be ordered and attempts to downplay the grave concerns raised over the functioning of the state machinery. Pertinently, the High Court had noted that the accusations levelled by Param Bir Singh against the Home Minister are 'unprecedented' as it ordered a CBI probe to ensure an impartial probe.