A prominent family was “so terrorized” after they parked a vehicle laden with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai on February 25, allegedly by sacked constable Sachin Vaze and others, that they canceled a scheduled foreign trip. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the special court on Tuesday.
Without naming the family involved in the case, the NIA, which is seeking one more month to file the chargesheet against Vaze and four other accused, said the car impounded with loose gelatin sticks and a threat letter had created fear in the minds of the people.
Special Public Prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves submitted before the court that this shows why terror charges were leveled against the accused under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
“One of the families was so panicked that they had to cancel the trip scheduled for a particular day. Gelatin sticks were kept in a car… there is fear in the minds of people,” Gonsalves said. Sections 16 (punishment for a terroristic act) and 18 (punishment for conspiracy) of the UAPA have been invoked against the accused in the case.
The NIA also claimed that 3-4 witnesses were being threatened and they were not ready to come forward to record their statements out of fear. “He was provided security by the NIA,” Gonsalves told the court.
The NIA, which arrested 10 people in the case, also said that the statements of 164 witnesses have been recorded so far. This includes the statement of one of the two men who were allegedly planned to be eliminated by the accused policemen to show that the explosives were planted as part of a terrorist plot.
The prosecutor also told the court that some of the accused had given extra judicial statements to their friends and their statements were also recorded.
The NIA, which made its first arrest in the case on March 13, has a maximum of 180 days to file a chargesheet as per the UAPA. However, the agency will have to seek an extension from the court beyond the first 90 days. While the court had in June allowed the NIA an extension of 60 days, the agency has now again approached the court for an additional 30 days.
The NIA prosecutor told the court that the investigation in the case was an “enormous task” as the accused, most of whom were trained policemen, repeatedly “dodged” the investigation.
“When his custody was taken, he never told us the whole truth. He gave wrong information. People can lie but documents cannot. So, we are verifying each and every document. The accused were using someone else’s handset and someone else’s SIM card. The disclosures by the four accused reveal that the devices and SIM cards used in the conspiracy were destroyed including those of Waze and Mane,” claimed the NIA.
It said that Thane resident Mansukh Hiran, who was attached to the SUV, was killed as he was an important link in the case. He said, ‘He was aware of the entire conspiracy. Had he been alive the matter would have taken a different turn,” the prosecutor told the court.
Besides millions of pages of CCTV camera footage and Call Data Records (CDRs) running into terabytes, the NIA said it needed to call around 50 traders from Nagpur to find out that the loose sticks of gelatin manufactured by a solar firm Who gave it to Waze? The agency also claimed that it is yet to receive a report from the forensic laboratory on the DNA profiles of the revolvers and vehicles seized in the crime, seized from the residence of accused retired policeman Pradeep Sharma in June.
It said that the objectionable documents of Sharma’s PS Foundation are also being probed. The agency claimed that the accused involved in the killing of the deer had traveled to Nepal, Dubai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Delhi after the murder on March 4 and one of the accused was paid Rs 45 lakh for the crime.
It also said that a team sent to Delhi was recording statements with regard to messages shared on the Telegram app, which said that the alleged terror outfit Jaish-ul-Hind had claimed responsibility for the incident.
The NIA said that it is trying to trace the place from where the messages were sent and the connection of the cellphone and SIM card was linked to the larger conspiracy.
Advocate Abad Ponda, representing Waze, opposed the extension sought by the NIA for filing the chargesheet. He demanded that the prosecution report be presented to the defense.
Special Judge Dinesh E Kothalikar will hear the arguments on the petition on Wednesday. The accused, including sacked policemen Veje, Riyaz Qazi, Sunil Mane and Vinayak Shinde, were presented for hearing on Tuesday.
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