Ambani bomb scare: Cop Waze taken to river; CPU, number plate found

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the Mukesh Ambani security scare case, took arrested police officer Sachin Waze today to the Mithi river in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. Divers have recovered a computer CPU and the number plate of a vehicle among other items from the river, reports suggest.

Waze is a suspect in the murder of auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran, who owned the SUV that was found with explosives near Ambani’s residence last month. He has been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) law by the agency. He had allegedly met Hiran on February 17, the day his SUV was stolen.

The NIA, which has the suspended cop in their custody till April 3, had told a court that Waze had an unexplained amount of ammunition at his house. They said 62 unaccounted bullets were retrieved from his house and only five of the 30 bullets given to him for his service revolver were found. There was no explanation for the rest.

The security scare case has also stoked a controversy over corruption allegations levelled by Mumbai Police’s ex-Commissioner Param Bir Singh against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Singh was shunted to the Home Guard for alleged lapses in the bomb scare case probe, after which he accused Deshmukh of pressing cops to run an extortion racket.

Deshmukh, a NCP leader, has denied the allegation. He said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has decided that a retired High Court judge will probe the allegations.

Related news | Anil Deshmukh says retired judge to probe graft charges against him

Meanwhile, the development has triggered discomfort in the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra, with Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana criticising the government for not being able to counter the allegations against the state home minister.

Besides, local media reports from Gujarat suggest NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his party colleague Praful Patel had secretly met Shah in Ahmedabad. However, on being asked about it, Shad said in a cryptic response, “Everything need not be made public.”