Reacting to the NIA arrest of Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze in the Mukesh Ambani threat case, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut flagged the "demoralisation" of the state police force. "I believe Sachin Vaze is a very honest and capable officer. He has been arrested in connection with gelatin sticks that were found. One suspicious death also occurred. It is Mumbai Police's responsibility to investigate the matter. No central team was needed," he said, reported news agency ANI.
"We respect NIA, but our police could have done it too. Mumbai Police and ATS are well respected, but central agencies repeatedly enter Mumbai and demoralise Mumbai Police," he said.
The arrest had already acquired political dimensions. BJP Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis had earlier hit out at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of shielding Vaze. Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of the budget session of the state legislature, Fadnavis termed the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government as the "most dishonest" in the state's history.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze Saturday night after questioning him for 12 hours over the recovery of an explosive-laden vehicle near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. On February 25, a Scorpio was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house in south Mumbai with explosives and a threat letter inside. Vaze was summoned at the agency's Mumbai office at Cumballa Hill in south Mumbai around 11.30am to record his statement.
Just before the arrest, Vaze had said he was being falsely implicated by his fellow officers, reported The Indian Express. “3rd March 2004. Fellow officers from the CID arrested me in a false case. That arrest inconclusive till date. Sensing the history is going to repeat. My fellow officers are on to falsely trap me. There's a slight difference in the scenario. Then probably I had 17 years of hope, patience, life and service too. Now I will have neither 17 years of further life nor service nor patience to live. I think the time to say goodbye to the world is coming closer,” Vaze wrote on his WhatsApp status.
An NIA spokesperson came out with a brief statement late Saturday night that he had been "arrested at 23.50hrs in NIA Case" related to the recovery of gelatin sticks in a vehicle parked near Ambani's house on Carmichael Road on February 25. A threat letter was found as well. The NIA spokesperson said Vaze has been arrested allegedly "for his role and involvement in placing explosives-laden vehicle near Carmichael road" on February 25.
The case was handed over to the NIA after the mysterious death of a Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who had claimed that the vehicle had been stolen a week earlier. His body was found in a creek at Thane on March 5. This case is being probed by the Anti-Terror Squad of the Maharashtra Police, but the NIA is likely to take over the case as the agency is mandated by the section 8 of the NIA Act to take over investigation in connected matters. Hiran's wife had claimed that her husband had given the SUV to Vaze in November, which the officer returned in the first week of February. During his questioning by the ATS, Vaze had denied using the SUV that was in possession of Hiran.
Vaze had on Friday filed an application seeking pre-arrest bail. His lawyer A.M. Kalekar had requested the court to grant Vaze interim protection from arrest on the ground that he was cooperating in the investigation. Additional public prosecutor Vivek Kadu, however, opposed this and argued that the probe in the case was at a crucial stage. The court, while refusing interim bail, noted that the charges in the case include section 302 (murder), section 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC which are serious offences.
Vaze, accused by Hiran's wife of involvement in her husband's suspicious death, was shunted out of the Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday.
-Inputs from PTI