NIA probes encounter angle in passport discovered at Sachin Waze home

A PASSPORT discovered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the house of arrested Mumbai policeman Sachin Waze is among the key items within the Antilia safety scare puzzle that investigators are attempting to unravel.
The Indian Express has learnt that one of many theories the company is engaged on is that Waze, often called an “encounter specialist”, allegedly meant to get rid of the holder of that passport and one other man.
The plan, they believe, was to pin the SUV containing the gelatin sticks that was discovered on February 25 outdoors Mukesh Ambani’s home on these two males, gun them down the identical day, and declare to have “solved” the case.
The two males had a prison report and have been recognized to Waze, officers accustomed to the road of investigation mentioned. The passport was discovered throughout a raid at Waze’s house on March 17.
Investigators suspect that the unique plan was to get the 2 males to drive a Maruti Eeco, which had been stolen from Aurangabad, and park it outdoors Antilia with an Improvised Explosive Device inside. The NIA retrieved the automobile’s quantity plate from Mithi river, sources mentioned.
However, investigators suspect that for numerous causes, together with the truth that Waze had taken on so many necessary investigations as head of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, he couldn’t dedicate sufficient time to coordinate this plan. Waze and the opposite accused then determined to make use of the SUV that was being utilized by Mansukh Hiran, the automotive decor dealer who was later discovered murdered, investigators imagine.
Sachin Waze
However, the plan to allegedly “eliminate” the 2 males in a faux encounter couldn’t be executed as Waze misplaced management of the investigation inside hours of the SUV being detected outdoors Antilia because the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) took over the case, an officer accustomed to the NIA’s probe mentioned.
According to the officer, the plan went haywire “on Day One itself” after the ATS tracked a sticker on the Scorpio and located that it belonged to Hiran. “They had changed number plates and even scratched the chassis number of the Scorpio. However, through a sticker of an insurance company on the vehicle, the ATS tracked it down to Hiran, which derailed their plan,” the officer mentioned.
“So far, it appears that they wanted to encounter the two persons and show that they had averted the threat. Apart from being hailed as heroes, they may have been planning to use it for some profit. We are investigating that lead,” the officer mentioned.
The NIA has made 4 arrests within the case, together with that of Waze, suspended constable Vinayak Shinde, cricket bookie Naresh Gaur and Waze’s colleague Riyaz Kazi. While Kazi is being interrogated by the NIA, the three others are in judicial custody.
Once the plan unravelled, investigators imagine, Waze and the co-accused started destroying proof that would hyperlink them to the incident, together with CCTV footage. But Waze feared that Hiran would crack below investigation, which is why he personally took over his interrogation, the officer mentioned.
However, investigators imagine that when Waze realised the case may very well be transferred, he allegedly determined together with his different accomplices to get rid of Hiran — the businessman was made to jot down a letter stating he was below psychological stress. “The plan was to make it look like a suicide,” the officer mentioned.
Hiran’s physique was present in a creek on March 5. The ATS had named Waze because the “main accused” in its remand utility within the Hiran homicide case final month earlier than it was taken over by NIA.