Maharashtra ATS says Vaze ‘chief conspirator’ in Mansukh Hiren murder

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Jai Jeet Singh on Tuesday (March 23) claimed that suspended Mumbai assistant inspector Sachin Vaze was the ‘chief conspirator’ in the murder of auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiren.

Jeet Singh, however, did not mention the motive of murder, though he emphasized again and again that the ATS has evidence of Vaze’s involvement in the murder. He said that Vaze, in all probability, ordered Hiren’s murder.

The ATS chief said they have seized a Volvo car from Daman with a Maharashtra registration number. He said the car has a connection with Hiren’s murder and is being analysed by a forensic team.

Also read: Ambani bomb scare: Maharashtra ATS says Hiran murder case solved

Earlier in the day, media reports said that Sachin Vaze had used a fake Aadhaar card to check in at a plush hotel in Mumbai a day before Hiren’s Scorpio was ‘stolen’. Vaze used the name ‘Sushant Sadashiv Khamkar’ and mentioned a wrong date of birth. Though he used his original photograph in the fake ID.

The ATS case is based on the premise that the Scorpio SUV was in possession of Vaze, who parked it outside Ambani’s house, located just a few kilometres from the hotel.

Besides Vaze, the ATS nabbed two more people in the murder case. A week ago, the Maharashtra ATS arrested suspended policeman Vinayak Shinde and cricket bookie Naresh Gaur.

Also read: CCTV footage shows Vaze met Hiran a week before Ambani bomb scare

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) too had seized five high-end cars during inquiry, including two Mercedes, 1 Prado, the Scorpio which was used to carry explosives, and an Innova car. The NIA suspects that at least three of the seized five cars were used by Vaze.