Mumbai, March 20 (IANS): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) early Saturday attempted to 'recreate' the crime scene in which a SUV (Scorpio) with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat note, was parked near the Antilia, the home of top industrialist Mukesh Ambani, officials said.
The NIA ferried arrested Assistant Police Inspector (API) Sachin Vaze -- currently in its custody till March 25 -- to the spot and tried to play out the crime scene, as it could have happened, around half a kilometre away from Antilia.
Secured by a large posse of Mumbai Police, the NIA made Vaze 'walk down the road' near Antilia from the spot where the SUV was recovered, to check his gait, movement, timings, etc, to tally with the investigations and evidence collected so far in the case.
This was an important field probe trip for NIA with Vaze who has previously been taken to various other locations in Mumbai and Thane to recreate the entire set of circumstances culminating in the SUV imbroglio on February 25.
The NIA has till date seized around six high-end cars/SUVs, including two Mercedes, a Scorpio, an Innova and a Toyota LandCruiser Prado, which are undergoing special forensic tests by an expert team from Pune.
While some of these vehicles were used by Vaze some were also driven by Thane businessman Mansukh Hiren, who was found dead in the Thane Creek wetlands on March 5.
The development came hours after an NIA team comprising IGP Anil Shukla and SP Vikram Khalate met the new Mumbai Commissioner of Police Hemant Nagrale, Joint CP (Crime) Milind Bharambe and DCP (Crime) Akbar Pathan, at the police commissionerate on Friday.
The NIA is probing the SUV case while the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad is investigating the Hiren death matter.
In a sensational twist to the SUV case, former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh on Saturday hit out at Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh by virtually alleging that the minister wanted his team member, arrested cop Sachin Vaze, to ‘collect INR 100 crore per month from bars and hookah parlours.
Taking strong umbrage at Deshmukh's remarks that Singh's transfer as Commandant-General of Maharashtra Home Guards was not for administrative purposes, but for "unpardonable lapses" by his team, the ex-Mumbai top cop shot off an eight-page missive to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, making shocking revelations.
Hitting back at Singh, Deshmukh tweeted that the ex-Mumbai police chief was leveling false allegations against him to save himself from action in the SUV case and the case related to the death of Mansukh Hiran.
But even as the issue threatens to shake the foundation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, top leaders remained incommunicado.
The SUV case refers to the explosives-laden Scorpio that was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai last month. Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of the Scorpio, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on March 5.