A day after he was arrested by the NIA in connection with the twin explosive laden SUV planting and alleged Mansukh Hiran murder cases, the Mumbai police on Monday suspended Assistant Police Inspector (API) Riyazuddin Kazi, a close associate and colleague of incarcerated police officer Sachin Vaze.
Kazi is the second serving officer from the Mumbai police to have been suspended in the twin sensational cases. API Vaze, who had been arrested on March 13, was later suspended from the Mumbai police force on March 15.
Kazi, who was on Sunday remanded by a holiday court in NIA custody till April 16, was directly working under Vaze, an API heading the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Crime Branch-CID of Mumbai Police. Kazi was shunted out of the CIU last month.
The NIA is looking into Kazi’s role in the planning of a Gelatin sticks’ laden Scorpio and a threatening letter inside the vehicle, in the vicinity of Mukesh Ambani’s 27-storey residence “Antilia” on Carmichael Road in south Mumbai on February 25 and the subsequent alleged murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Huran.
Hiran’s body was recovered from the marshy Reti-Bunder creek Mumbra in the neighbouring Thane district on March 5.
The NIA suspects that acting allegedly at the behest of Vaze, Kazi might destroyed evidence in the case and procured fake vehicle number plates number plates
Sources said that Kazi was – in a CCTV footage recovered by the NIA --was seen entering a number plates shop at Vikhroli in n orth-east Mumbai. In the footage, he was also seen conversing with the outlet's owner. In addition, he was seen taking away a digital video recorder and a computer from the shop.
Kazi is the fourth accused to be arrested in the SUV planting and the alleged Manshukh Hiran murder cases. Vaze was the first accused to have been arrested by the NIA which registered an FIR in the explosive-laden SUV recovery case on March 8.Vaze, who was arrested on March 13 in connection with the gelatine sticks laden Scorpion recovery case, was earlier booked under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 465 (forgery) 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal) and 506 -2 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 4 (a)(b)(i) of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908. He was subsequently booked under sections 16 (Punishment for Terror act) and 18 (Punishment for conspiracy etc) of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Subsequently, Maharashtra’s Anti Terrorism — which initially investigated the circumstances leading to the alleged murder of Hiran — on March 21 arrested convicted Mumbai Police constable Vinayak B. Shinde (51) and a cricket bookie Naresh R. Gaur (31) in connection with Hiran’s alleged murder. The arrest of Shinde and Gaur came a day after the Union Home Ministry asking the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over the investigations into the murder of Hiran.
Shinde and Gaur are said to be accomplices of Vaze. Shinde is a dismissed policeman, who has been convicted in the case involving the fake encounter of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya.mn Shinde has been on parole.
The investigations by the ATs have revealed that Shinde was in regular touch with Vaze and helped the latter in his activities.
During the investigations that followed, the NIA seized from Shinde and Gaur two mobile, one iPhone, 7 SIM cards, a blank cover of SIM card, a note with 14 mobile numbers mentioned including 5 in the name of arrested-suspected cop and prime accused Sachin Vaze with 'Ok' written (for activation) beside them.
On March 28, the NIA on Sunday recovered several pieces of evidence, including two CPUs of computers, two number plates of a vehicle with the same registration number, two DVRs and a laptop, from the bed of Mithi River in north-central Mumbai, which allegedly link the arrested police officer to the two sensational crimes.
