Officials from the National Investigation Agency and the Mumbai Police who examined the conduct of suspended Deputy Police Inspector Sachin Waze over the past month found that he had asked Vikhroli Police to stop his investigation into the car theft case filed by Mansukh Hiran.
Vaze had also used false identity documents, with which he had booked rooms for himself at upscale hotels in the city, it was discovered.
On February 25, a gelatin-laden Scorpion was found 500 meters from Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. On February 27, Waze contacted the Senior Police Inspector at Vikhroli Police Station and ordered him to end their investigation into the Scorpio vehicle theft case filed by Hiran on February 18.
“Waze had made a phone call to Vikhroli police asking them to stop their investigation, I believe this was done to ensure that his involvement did not emerge from the investigation,” a senior official said. from IPS. “It appears that shortly after the investigation into the case was transferred to the CIU, he began to destroy all the evidence and was determined to prevent the other police officers from carrying out their investigation.”
After Waze’s call, the police station stopped pursuing the case because she had been turned over to the CIU.
Meanwhile, the NIA visited a five-star hotel in south Mumbai on Monday where Waze had stayed in February. Investigators took the hotel’s digital video recorder (DVR). CCTV footage, officials said, shows Waze walking with two bags.
The NIA wants to probe who all encountered Waze during his stay at the hotel and how to pay for the stay. NIA officials learned that Waze used a fake Aadhaar card, which had a fictitious name but had its own photo. Sources revealed that NIA seized the photocopy of the Aadhaar card that Waze had presented to the hotel.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which arrested two people – former Constable Vinayak Shinde (51) and cricketer Naresh Gaur (31) in the Hiran murder case – carried out research in various places, including in the godown of an automobile company. and office in Thane and Bhiwandi.
A source from ATS revealed that Waze was a director of this automotive limited company, but resigned a few months ago.
Searches were carried out at the car company office in Thane and their godown in Bhiwandi. The ATS also carried out a search operation in a store attached to the company.
ATS officials suspect Hiran was killed at one of these locations.
The ATS also detained a person from Gujarat in the Hiran murder case because Gaur, the cricket bookie, had bought the detainee 14 SIM cards. An officer said: “We are trying to find out who Gaur provided these illegally purchased SIM cards to.”