Tag: Mukesh Ambani

  • Mansukh Hiren death: Trouble for Deshmukh as Maharashtra Cabinet rejig on cards

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: With questions being raised on Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s handling  of crucial and sensitive cases like the bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antillia, talks of replacing him have started and are gathering momentum within the NCP.

    According to reports, during the Assembly session, the Maharashtra government was said to be on the backfoot over Mansukh Hiren death and suspected role of encounter specialist cop Sachin Waze.

    If a senior NCP leader is to be believed, Sharad Pawar is of the view that keeping a non-performing minister in the Cabinet will not only will damage the government but also his party’s image.

    “Light-weight Anil Deshmukh was made the home minister because of the pressure of his party colleagues, but he has failed in the first year only. On the other hand, the Opposition is getting hold of every crucial information related to Hiren death case, including the CDR details between Sachin Waze and deceased. It also got the locations record. In Dadra Nagar Haveli MP  suicide case also, Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis got the suicide note before the home minister. That shows things are not working for Deshmukh,” said a source.

    Meanwhile, Vaze has denied that he was using the Scorpio which was in possession of Mansukh Hiran, a senior Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) official said on Thursday.

    The ATS, which is probing Hiran’s mysterious death, recorded Vaze’s statement earlier this week, he said.

    ALSO READ | Mansukh Hiran’s death was carefully planned murder: Devendra Fadnavis

    Hiran’s wife had claimed that her husband had given the SUV to Vaze in November, which the Mumbai crime branch officer returned in the first week of February.

    On February 25, the SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in south Mumbai with explosives and a threat letter inside.

    Hiran had claimed that it had been stolen a week earlier, but the case got murky when he was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5.

    Vaze, accused by Hiran’s wife of involvement in her husband’s suspicious death, was shunted out of the Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, the investigators have yet to trace the Innova car in which the man who parked the Scorpio near Ambani’s house is seen leaving the spot in CCTV footage, another official said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Ambani bomb scare: Jaish-ul-Hind’s Telegram channel ‘created in Tihar’; police approaches jail admin

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI; A Telegram channel through which an organisation named Jaish-ul-Hind had claimed responsibility for placing an explosives-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence here was “created in the Tihar” area of Delhi, a senior Mumbai police official said on Thursday.

    As the new angle emerged, the Delhi Police’s Special Cell approached the Tihar Jail administration and is likely to question some suspects, official sources said.

    “A Special Cell team of Delhi Police on Thursday approached the Tihar Jail administration in connection with the case,” a source said.

    Mumbai Police took the help of a private cyber agency to track the location of the phone on which the Telegram channel was created, the official said.

    During the investigation, the location of the phone was traced near Delhi’s Tihar Jail, he added.

    A Mahindra Scorpio car with gelatin sticks was found parked near “Antilia”, the multi-storey residence of Ambani, in south Mumbai on February 25.

    According to police sources, the Telegram channel was created on February 26 and the message claiming responsibility for placing the vehicle outside Ambani’s residence was posted on the Telegram messaging app late in the night on February 27.

    The message had also demanded payment in cryptocurrency and mentioned a link to deposit the same.

    During the probe, the link was found as “not available”, due to which the investigators suspected it to be mischievous, the official said.

    On February 28, another message from Jaish-ul-Hind surfaced on a social media platform, claiming that the organisation did not have any role in the incident.

    The investigation in the case was initially conducted by the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police.

    After the mysterious death of Thane-based auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV that was later found parked outside Ambani’s residence, the probe was transferred to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

    On Monday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case related to the recovery of the explosives-laden vehicle.

  • Mukesh Ambani bomb threat: Jaish-ul-Hind’s Telegram channel ‘created in Tihar’, say police

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A Telegram channel through which an organisation named Jaish-ul-Hind had claimed responsibility for placing an explosives-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence here was “created in the Tihar” area of Delhi, a senior Mumbai police official said on Thursday.

    The Delhi police has been informed about it, he added.

    The police took the help of a private cyber agency to track the location of the phone on which the Telegram channel was created, the official said.

    During the investigation, the location of the phone was traced near Delhi’s Tihar Jail, he added.

    A Mahindra Scorpio car with gelatin sticks was found parked near “Antilia”, the multi-storey residence of Ambani, in south Mumbai on February 25.

    According to police sources, the Telegram channel was created on February 26 and the message claiming responsibility for placing the vehicle outside Ambani’s residence was posted on the Telegram messaging app late in the night on February 27.

    The message had also demanded payment in cryptocurrency and mentioned a link to deposit the same.

    During the probe, the link was found as “not available”, due to which the investigators suspected it to be mischievous, the official said.

    On February 28, another message from Jaish-ul-Hind surfaced on a social media platform, claiming that the organisation did not have any role in the incident.

    The investigation in the case was initially conducted by the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police.

    After the mysterious death of Thane-based auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV that was later found parked outside Ambani’s residence, the probe was transferred to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

    On Monday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case related to the recovery of the explosives-laden vehicle.

  • Cop Sachin Vaze’s name came in statement of Mansukh Hiren’s wife: Anil Deshmukh

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday said that the government has decided to remove Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze from the Crime Branch because his name came up in the statement of Mansukh Hiren’s wife.

    “The government has decided to remove Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze from the Crime Branch. His name came up in the statement of Mansukh Hiren’s wife,” said Deshmukh.

    Earlier in the Legislative Assembly today, Anil Deshmukh had said that Sachin Vaze will be removed from the Crime Branch and posted in some other department to ensure impartial investigation in Mansukh Hiren’s death case.

    BJP members shout slogans and created a ruckus after the home minister announced the transfer of Sachin Vaze from the Crime Branch, demanded his suspension and arrest.

    Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis also moved a motion of breach of privilege against Anil Deshmukh

    A car carrying unassembled explosive materials was found abandoned at Carmichael Road in South Mumbai on February 25, near the house of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

    The owner of the vehicle, Mansukh Hiren, was found dead in a creek in the Thane district on Friday. Now, ATS Maharashtra is investigating the case.

  • Bomb threat to Ambanis: Fadnavis demands Mumbai cop’s arrest as SUV owner’s wife claims foul play

    By Express News Service
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday saw noisy scenes as leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis demanded the arrest of a police officer in the Mansukh Hiran death case, and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh blamed the former chief minister for “covering up” the Anvay Naik suicide case.

    Fadnavis demanded action against API Sachin Vaze in connection with the death of Hiran who was in possession of the SUV with explosives found outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in south Mumbai.

    The Naik suicide case, in which journalist Arnab Goswami had been arrested, was raked up, with the home minister saying the government will probe the “cover-up” of the case by then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

    The House was adjourned seven times with MLAs ignoring COVID-19 norms of physical distancing and use of masks.

    A Scorpio, with 20 gelatin sticks inside, was found near Antilia, Ambani’s high-rise residence in south Mumbai, on February 25.

    Police said the vehicle was stolen from Hiran’s possession on February 18.

    The mystery deepened after Hiran’s body was found in a creek last Friday in neighbouring Thane.

    Citing the statement by Hiran’s wife, Fadnavis claimed that Vaze was in possession of the car for four months.

    “The Innova car which was behind the Scorpio is in Mumbai as per my information.

    Give me some time, I will trace it,” he added.

    Fadnavis claimed that Hiran’s wife had alleged in her statement to police that her husband may have been killed by assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze.

    “She told police that her husband knew Vaze and the Scorpio was with the police officer from November 2020 to February 5, 2021,” Fadnavis said.

    “She had also said her husband was with Vaze on February 27, 28 and March 2.

    The complaint letter (of Hiran) addressed to the chief minister, deputy chief minister and police commissioners of Mumbai and Thane was written on the instructions of Vaze,” Fadnavis alleged.

    The BJP leader claimed that Hiran’s last location was found with Dhananjay Vithal Gawde, against whom an FIR was lodged in an extortion case.

    The other person mentioned in the same FIR was Sachin Vaze, Fadnavis added.

    As Fadnavis raised the Hiran case, minister and Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab sought the arrest of those named in Delkar’s suicide note.

    Delkar (58), a seven-term MP from the Dadra and Nagar Haveli, was found dead at a hotel on Marine Drive in south Mumbai on February 22.

    The home minister announced formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe Delkar’s death.

    Deshmukh said Delkar had mentioned in the suicide note that he was under pressure from the Union Territory’s administrator Praful Kheda Patel who had been a minister in the Narendra Modi-led cabinet in Gujarat.

    ALSO READ | Something fishy: Uddhav Thackeray on NIA taking over Ambani bomb threat probe

    Fadnavis said Vaze was being protected as he belonged to the ruling party.

    Vaze had joined the Shiv Sena in 2008 while under suspension.

    Vaze was suspended in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case and but was reinstated in his job last year during the COVID-19 lockdown, Fadnavis said.

    “When I was the chief minister, the issue of reinstating Vaze had come up but the advocate general had advised against it,” Fadnavis said.

    While announcing the SIT probe in the Delkar case, home minister Deshmukh said the MP had said in the suicide note that he was ending his life in Mumbai as he had faith in Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra government.

    “Earlier, IAS officer Rajesh Kumar Shrivastav from Madhya Pradesh had ended his life in Nagpur in Maharashtra, the minister said.

    “This officer felt he will not get justice in Raipur, in a BJP-ruled state,” Deshmukh said.

    BJP members were quick to point out that the officer was from Chhattisgarh and not Madhya Pradesh.

    “The home minister feels happy that people come to Maharashtra to commit suicide. He doesn’t even know Raipur is in Chhattisgarh and not in Madhya Pradesh,” Fadnavis said.

    Deshmukh said he had already corrected himself.

    Fadnavis wondered if the home minister wanted Maharashtra to be known as a place where people come to die.

    “Is this a matter of pride,” the BJP leader asked.

    ALSO READ | NIA takes over case of explosives-laden vehicle found near Ambani residence

    Jumping into the debate on the Mansukh Hiran death case, Nana Patole of the Congress asked how did Fadnavis get hold of the call data record (CDR), and how an unidentified vehicle could reach so close to Ambani’s house.

    Patole also asked on what basis Fadnavis said the vehicle found outside Ambani’s house did not have explosives.

    Bhaskar Jadhav (Shiv Sena) said the BJP was targeting Vaze as he had arrested Goswami in the Naik suicide case.

    Deshmukh said Fadnavis’s own role in the “cover-up” of that case will be probed.

    Fadnavis said the government was resorting to threats to save Vaze, and dared it to order a probe against him.

    As noisy scenes continued despite several adjournments, the House was adjourned for the day.

    Meanwhile, Vimla Hiran, wife of Mansukh Hiran, has alleged in her statement to the ATS that Vaze might have killed her husband.

    The police officer did not offer comment immediately on the allegations.

    After a Scorpio with explosives was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in south Mumbai on February 25, Hiran, a Thane resident, had claimed it had been stolen from his possession a week earlier.

    Hiran himself was found dead in Thane creek on March 5.

    Vimla Hiran recorded her statement before the state Anti-Terrorism Squad, which is probing the case, on March 7.

    According to the statement, the Scorpio, owned by Dr Peter Newton, was in the possession of the Hiran family for the past three years with Dr Newton’s consent.

    ALSO READ | Bomb threat to Ambanis: Mansukh Hiren’s family must get justice, says Congress

    Her husband knew API Vaze who was a regular client of Mansukh’s car decor business, she said.

    In November 2020, he had given the Scorpio to Vaze to use, Vimla Hiran said, adding that the police officer returned it on February 5, 2021, through a driver.

    Her husband had then told her that the steering of the SUV was hard, she said.

    On February 17 Mansukh left for Mumbai in the SUV for business-related trip, but as the steering got jammed, he left it after crossing the Mulund toll plaza and took a cab, she said.

    The next day when he returned to the spot with one of his employees, it was missing, so he lodged a complaint of car theft at Vikhroli Police Station, she said.

    On February 25, when the SUV with gelatin sticks was found near Ambani’s house, her husband got a call from an ATS inspector, she said.

    Mansukh and their son Lucky then went to meet the officer near their building, she told the police.

    The officer showed him a picture of the SUV and Hiran identified it.

    He later told her that he went with Sachin Vaze to the Mumbai police’s crime branch the next morning for inquiry and returned around 10.30 pm with Vaze.

    He showed her a copy of his recorded statement which also bore the name and signature of Vaze, Vimla told the ATS.

    On March 2, Mansukh told her that he had gone to Mumbai with Vaze, and on his insistence filed a complaint addressed to the Chief Minister, Home Minister and police commissioners of Mumbai and Thane about harassment faced from the media and police, her statement said.

    She asked him if he had been tortured and Mansukh denied, but said he was constantly getting calls.

    On March 3 he told her that Vaze had asked him to get arrested in the case and assured that he (Vaze) will get him out on bail within 2-3 days, the statement claimed.

    She advised him against doing any such thing and he seemed tensed, she told the ATS.

    On March 4, her husband called his brother Vinod Hiran and said he needed a lawyer to apply for anticipatory bail as he feared arrest, Vimla said in the statement.

    He returned home early the same day, and said he had to go out again as a police officer named Tawde wanted to meet him, she said.

    He was going to Ghodbunder Road to consult the police who were their well-wishers, he assured her.

    Mansukh left in an auto rickshaw and after 11 pm his phone became unreachable, so she called Vinod Hiran.

    Vinod called Vaze who advised him to wait till morning, she said.

    Next day Vinod filed a missing person complaint and around 3.30 pm her son informed her that Mansukh’s body has been found in the creek, she told the ATS.

    Her husband was a good swimmer so he could not have drowned in the creek, she stated.

    She suspected that her husband might have been killed by Sachin Vaze, Vimla Hiran said in the statement, demanding a thorough probe.

    Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday, API Vaze said he would go through her allegations and only then respond.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Fadnavis demands arrest of police officer involved in Antilla bomb scare probe

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday demanded the arrest of Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze for his alleged involvement in the death of Mansukh Hiren, the man who owned the vehicle that triggered a scare outside Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani’s residence.

    Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze is currently serving in the Crime Intelligence Unit and was the Investigative Officer in the Antilia bomb case at the beginning of the probe, before he was replaced by an ACP-level officer.

    While speaking in the Maharashtra Assembly, Fadnavis asked, “Why he is not being arrested yet? if not under 302 (murder) why not under Section 201 of IPC (destroying evidence) at least for now? Who is defending him?”

    He also read out the statement of Hiren’s wife in the House – “I suspect Police officer Sachin Vaze has killed my husband,” and made several allegations against Vaze while reading out the statement.

    “The Scorpio car of Mansukh Hiren was with Sachin Vaze for four months from November last year to February 2, 2021. Sachin Vaze took statements from Mansukh from February 26 to 28. Mansukh told his wife on March 3 that Sachin Vaze has asked him to get arrested, and Vaze assured bail in two to three days, but Hiren refused the suggestion,” he said while reading out the wife’s statements.

    He further alleged that Mansukh had written a complaint to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and against the police and media for harassment, and the complaint had been prepared by Vaze, alleges Fadnavis quoting Hiren’s wife.

    Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze is currently serving in the Crime Intelligence Unit and was the Investigative Officer in the Antilia bomb case at the beginning of the probe.

    A car carrying unassembled explosive materials was found abandoned at Carmichael Road in South Mumbai on February 25, near the house of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

    The owner of the vehicle, Mansukh Hiren, was found dead in a creek in the Thane district on Friday. Now, ATS Maharashtra is investigating this case as a murder case.

    Soon after, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) received orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs to probe the case.

    The Leader of Opposition also demanded a reply from Home Minister. There were at least 3 adjournments due to uproar in the House since Mansukh Hiren’s death issue. 

  • Mansukh Hiren’s death case is being probed, guilty won’t be spared: Anil Deshmukh

    By ANI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday said that the necessary investigation is being done in the death of Mansukh Hiren and the planting of the explosives-laden car near Mukesh Ambani’s residence.

    “The necessary investigation is being done in the death of Mansukh Hiren’s death and the planting of the explosives-laden car near Mukesh Ambani’s residence. Whosoever is found to be guilty will not be spared,” said Anil Deshmukh in Assembly.

    NIA to probe case of explosive-laden vehicle found near Mukesh Ambani’s residence

    Meanwhile, the investigation of the Mansukh Hiren death case has been transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

    “Investigation of Mansukh Hiren death case will remain with the ATS and the case related to the recovery of explosives in a car near Mukesh Ambani’s house will be probed by NIA, Maharashtra ATS clarified.

    Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) registered an FIR for alleged criminal conspiracy, murder and attempts to destroy evidence in Mansukh Hiren death case.

    “National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the case relating to the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai. NIA is in the process of re-registering the case, it said.

    However, slamming the Opposition for demanding a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the death of Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the explosives-laden vehicle found outside Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani’s residence, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that no one should try to capitalize on Hiren’s death.

    “If there are any issues raised by the Opposition in the Hiren death case, it should be investigated. If the Opposition provides information in the case, it should be investigated. But I do not think it is right to put the government in the cage of the accused before the investigation is completed. But no one should try to capitalize on his death,” Raut said while interacting with reporters.

  • Bomb threat to Ambanis: Mansukh Hiren’s family must get justice, says Congress

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Congress on Sunday said the family of Mansukh Hiren, who was in possession of the vehicle that was later found with explosives outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, must get justice at the earliest.

    The car, a Scorpio, with 20 gelatin sticks inside was found near ‘Antilia’, Ambani’s multi-storey residence in south Mumbai, on February 25.

    Police had said the vehicle was stolen from Airoli-Mulund Bridge on February 18.

    Hiren (46) was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5.

    The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has taken over the probe into the entire matter.

    State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant in a statement expressed hope that the ATS will go into the root of the case of Hiren’s death and unravel the “conspiracy” behind it.

    “The family of Mansukh Hiren must get justice at the earliest,” he said.

    Sawant said the ATS was a competent agency to conduct probe into the case.

    Calling the BJP an “irresponsible party”, Sawant asked “how did the CDR (call detail records) in the case reach the BJP”? He said the BJP was not showing trust in the state police by demanding that the case be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

    BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday sought an NIA probe into the case.

    Sawant said after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death last year, several allegations were levelled and that case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

    “Till today, the allegations made haven’t been substantiated. Will the BJP apologise?” Sawant asked.

    Earlier, officials on Saturday said the autopsy report of Hiren reserved the opinion on the cause of death.

    The viscera of Hiren has been sent for forensic analysis, they said.

  • Owner of explosives-laden car abandoned near Mukesh Ambani’s house found dead

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI:  The owner of the explosives-laden vehicle involved in the bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia last week was found dead on Friday. While the BJP demanded that the NIA should probe the entire matter, the Maharashtra government handed over the investigation to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

    The body of Mansukh Hiren, 45, the owner of the Scorpio that was packed with gelatin sticks and parked near Antilia  on February 25, was found in a creek at Mumbra, Thane, on Friday morning. According to his family, he had gone missing on Thursday night.

    Raising the issue in the Assembly, the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis demanded that the case was sensitive and be handed over to the NIA. However, home minister Anil Deshmukh said the police was competent to probe the case.

    Fadnavis said the SUV owner was a key witnesses and his death had deepened the mystery. The SUV was stolen on February 18 and in his statement to the Crime Branch, Mansukh had said he lodged a police complaint after the theft. 

    Fadnavis claimed that Mansukh had in his statement said he had visited Crowford market when there was a bomb scare near Ambani’s residence.  “We want to know why the Scorpio owner came to Crawford market? Whom did he meet there? All of these questions need to be investigated. We also got information that the same person had also called Sachin Waze, the investigating officer of this case, twice in June and July last year.” 

  • Bomb threat to Ambani’s family: Maharashtra Home minister hands over case to Anti Terrorist Squad

    Express News Service
    After the death of Scorpio owner whose vehicle was abandoned stockpiled with gelatin sticks near India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antillia, Maharashtra Home minister hand over this case to Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Friday.

    Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Devendra earlier demanded to hand over this sensitive case to the central government agency National Investigative Agency (NIA). However, Maharashtra Home minister Anil Deshmukh said that Maharashtra police is competent to probe this case.

    The dead body of Mansukh Hiren the owner of this said Scorpio vehicle was found at Mumbra, Thane on Friday. Devendra Fadnavis said Scorpio owner is one of the key witnesses in this case, is now found dead that increases the suspect and mystery deepen the further.

    ALSO READ: Letter taking responsibility for car near Mukesh Ambani’s house seems to be a hoax: Police

    He also claimed that Mansukh in his statement earlier said that he had come to Crowford market in South Mumbai for some personal work when a bomb scare happened near Mukesh Ambani residence. As per police, his vehicle was parked under the bridge at Mankhurd and from this place, it was stolen by an unknown person.

    “We want to know why Scorpio owner came to Crawford market? Whom did he meet there? All of these questions need to be investigated. We also got information that this same person had also called Sachin Waze who is investigating officer (IO) of this case twice in June and July of last year. Sachin Waze and Hiren’s What’s app chat record also need to be checked because the terror angle is involved here. Therefore, this case needs to be given to NIA for a fair probe,” he demanded.

    Fadnavis said that in this case, the IO Sachin Waze is from Thane, the dead body was also found in Thane and the along with Scorpio, another vehicle Innova which had come on bomb scare day was also from Thane.

    “When the the incident happened near Mukesh Ambani residence that time also, before the local police, Sachin Waje reached first. Our suspect has been increasing in this case even though we do not cast any doubt on any particular individual,” Fadnavis said.

    Sachin Waze refuted all allegations of Leader of Oppositions. Waze said Fadnavis is free to speak anything. “On that particular day, before me, several police officers went to the spot. All details are in the police record,” Waze said refused to speak more.