Encounter specialist Sachin Vaze, was arrested late on Saturday by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged part in the conspiracy to plant an explosive-laden sports utility vehicle near Reliance Industries Limited chairperson Mukesh Ambani’s house last month. Vaze was arrested by the central agency after questioning him for nearly 12 hours. He was the lead investigator in the explosives case before it was transferred to the Mumbai Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and later to the NIA.“Sachin Vaze is part of the group that planted the explosive-laden Scorpio on Carmichael Road (near Antilia) on February 25. The officer also alleged Vaze had confessed to his role but declined to share more details at this stage.
Mansukh Hiran, an auto parts dealer in Thane, had claimed ownership of the abandoned vehicle and told the police that it was stolen a week earlier. He was found dead in a creek in Mumbai on March 5. Hiran’s wife Vimla blamed Vaze for the murder and claimed that her husband had given the SUV to the police officer in November, which he returned in the first week of February.Vaze joined the Maharashtra police force in 1990 as a sub-inspector and his first posting was in the Maoist-affected area of Gadchiroli. He was moved to Thane city police two years later and came to be known as a good criminal investigator. He was later inducted in the Special Squad of Thane Police’s crime branch, where he gained a reputation as an encounter specialist.Vaze was transferred to the Powai unit of the Mumbai Police’s crime branch in 2000. It was during his stint here when, together with three other policemen, he faced a charge of murdering Khawaja Yunus, an accused in the December 2, 2002, Ghatkopar blast case. Yunus, a 27-year-old software engineer, was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch, and later reportedly died in police custody. The state Crime Investigation Department (CID) charged Vaze and three other police personnel Rajendra Tiwari, Rajaram Nikam and Sunil Desai -- with murder and destruction of evidence on March 3, 2004. Vaze was placed under suspension after this.