Is Sachin Waze 'Encounter specialist' the key conspirator behind Ambani's Antilia bomb scare?

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Is Sachin Waze ‘Encounter specialist’ the key conspirator behind Ambani’s Antilia bomb scare?: Here’s what NIA’s take

NIA was investigating a CCTV visual that surfaced on Monday showing a person walking near Ambani's residence on the night an explosive-laden vehicle was found wearing what initially seemed like a PPE.

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March 17, 2021 16:46 IST
Is Sachin Waze ‘Encounter specialist’ the key conspirator behind Ambani’s Antilia bomb scare?: Here’s what NIA’s take
Is Sachin Waze ‘Encounter specialist’ the key conspirator behind Ambani’s Antilia bomb scare?: Here’s what NIA’s take

New Delhi: National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Wednesday confirmed that the person, seen in a CCTV grab walking near Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani’s residence on the night of February 25 when an explosive-laden vehicle was found, was Sachin Waze.

“In the CCTV footage, Sachin Waze could be seen with his head covered with a large handkerchief so that no one could identify him. He was wearing an oversized kurta-pajama, and not PPE coverall, in an attempt to mask his body language and face,” the NIA added.

“A laptop was seized from the cabin of Sachin Waze in a raid day before yesterday but all the data in it was already deleted. He was asked for his cellphone and he had said that he had dropped it somewhere. But the fact is that he had intentionally thrown it away,” NIA said.

NIA was investigating a CCTV visual that surfaced on Monday showing a person walking near Ambani’s residence on the night an explosive-laden vehicle was found wearing what initially seemed like a PPE.

Waze was transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at the Mumbai Police Headquarters after his name came up in the death case of Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the vehicle that was found on Carmichael Raod outside Antilia on February 25.

Hiren was found dead in a creek on March 5 in Thane. Waze was sent to NIA custody till March 25, on Sunday. He had on Saturday moved an anticipatory bail application at Thane District and Sessions Court.

The matter briefly came up for hearing on March 12 but the court refused to give Waze interim relief and issued notice to the state government and posted the matter for hearing on March 19.

From being one of the top encounter specialists of Mumbai Police, with 63 encounters under his belt, Sachin Waze’s journey in the force has now come under a cloud with the NIA taking him into custody after allegations of his involvement in the Antilia bomb scare.

When did he join Maharashtra Police?

The rise of Waze has been gradual. 1972 born Sachin Waze joined Maharashtra Police in 1990 as a sub-inspector. In the initial part of his career, he was posted in the in Naxal-affected Gadchiroli area. Later, he was transferred to Thane in Maharashtra where he gained fame in a very short span of time by his way of handling and solving crime cases.

How many encounters did he make till date? 

Further, he was transferred to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. In the late 1990s, he was termed as an Encounter Specialist and became the face of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. He has conducted 63 encounters under his name, including one of the dreaded gangster Munna Nepali.

When was the first time when he came under the scanner?

The encounter specialist first came under the scanner when he was suspended in March 2004 after allegations of custodial death of a 2002 Ghatkopar blast suspect Khwaja Yunus. He was suspended along with 14 other cops at that time. Later, when his application for being reinstated was rejected, he resigned from the police force in November 2007 and joined Shiv Sena in 2008.

As years passed by, in June 2020, he was reinstated in the Mumbai police’s CIU.

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