The chargesheet enforcing the anti-terrorism law said, “It was clearly intended to terrorize the rich and the affluent. UAPA Also strict sections of IPC. Five serving and retired policemen, including former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, were allegedly involved in this conspiracy. The NIA says they had included five others, some of whom had long criminal records.
The chargesheet states that Vaze had left a note in the vehicle to threaten the Ambani family. To mislead investigators, a message was posted on the Telegram app purportedly showing terror outfit Jaish-ul-Hind taking responsibility for planting explosives. The NIA says that Vaze also conspired to kill the owner of the vehicle, Mansukh Hiran.
“The post on Telegram… appears to be a deliberate attempt to add credibility to the above alleged terror act and the killing of the deer was a direct result of the said act of terror,” the chargesheet said. The NIA says that the threat posted on Telegram, demanding payment from the Ambani family, clearly shows Waze’s motive to obtain monetary gains. Waze himself drove a vehicle laden with explosives and parked it near Ambani’s bungalow. The driver of the police vehicle accompanying him was unaware of the conspiracy and was told that it was a covert operation.
Later, Vaze was the first to reach the spot and transferred the investigation to himself so that he could sabotage the entire investigation, said the chargesheet as part of a well-planned conspiracy to create fear among the Ambani family as well as the general public. . When the police driver saw the news the next day, he was shocked, but kept quiet as Waze threatened not to tell him anything.
The chargesheet further states that Waze also destroyed a visitor register maintained by the Office of the Commissioner of Police to hide the activities of himself and his accomplices. As part of the conspiracy, Vaze had booked a room in the name of Sushant Khamkar at Hotel Oberoi for 100 nights. He thought it was a safe place for planning and implementation of the conspiracy.
On the instructions of Vaze, Hiran had earlier filed a false case with Vikhroli police that his Scorpio was stolen on February 17. Vaze had driven the car and brought it to his housing society in Thane. However, the buck refused to play along after a point, which prompted Waze and his colleagues to eliminate him. The NIA said that two meetings were held at the Police Commissioner’s office on March 2 and 3. Sunil Mane And former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma was present. Waze made sure the deer was seen here so that it could be identified.
The chargesheet also describes in detail the killing of the deer. On March 3, Waze handed over a bag filled with cash and a SIM card to Sharma at its PS Foundation office in Andheri. Sharma in turn handed over cash to his colleague Santosh Shelar to arrange a vehicle and recruit others. Shelar signed Anand Jadhav, Satish Mothkuri and Manish Soni.
In the court proceedings, the prosecution had mentioned that Rs 45 lakh was paid to eliminate the buck. On the night of March 4, Mane called Hiran, describing him as ‘Inspector Tawde’ and asked him to meet him at Ghodbunder Road in Thane. After taking the deer in his car, he went to the Dwarka hotel and handed the deer to Shelar who was waiting in the Tavera car. Mane snatches his mobile phone and tells him that he will be in safe hands now.
Soni said that in the moving car, Mothkuri, who was sitting in the last row, grabbed the deer, strangled it and put a handkerchief in its mouth, while Jadhav and Shelar held her hand, Soni who was driving the vehicle and in this case I have become a government witness. They later drove the vehicle to the Kasheli bridge in Thane and dumped the body in the drain and then went to a dhaba to have food.
Before disposing of the deer’s carcass, they removed its gold chain, a purse full of cash, debit/credit cards and wristwatches so that if the carcass floated to the top, it could not be identified. After the murder, Shelar calls Sharma and tells that the task is complete. On Sharma’s instructions, Shelar, Jadhav and Soni left for Nepal via Delhi.
When Sharma learned that Soni was in a state of depression and could flourish, he asked Shelar to send her to Dubai for a few days. When the deer’s carcass was found and taken to the CGM hospital in Kalwa, Vaze reached there while the post-mortem was going on, to oversee the process, the chargesheet said.
Vaze and his subordinate API Kazi also illegally took digital video recorders (DVRs) that showed CCTV footage of Antilia, Waze’s own housing society and a housing society near Deer’s automobile accessories shop in Thane. With the help of Qazi, Waze dumped the digital evidence, the phone used by the gang and the fake number plates used for the vehicles in the Mithi river in Kurla.
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