Former Mumbai Police Officer Sachin Vaze, who was granted clemency by a special CBI court This week in Mumbai, in the Anil Deshmukh case, joined the Maharashtra Police in 1990. However, he was suspended from service for the first time after the custodial death of Khwaja Yunus, an accused in the 2002 Ghatkopar bombings.
He is still facing trial in the case that has been going on since then. He was granted bail by the court during his suspension in this case. However, after the testimony of the first witness, the Special Public Prosecutor in the case moved an application seeking to make accused police officers other than Vaze and his constables. However, following the Special Public Prosecutor’s letter, his services were terminated by the Government of Maharashtra and since then, the trial is stalled awaiting the appointment of a new Special Public Prosecutor to conduct the trial.
Waze is still an accused in that case and since he is one of the main accused in the case, he cannot become a government witness and apologise.
Antilia bomb scare of 2021
After a suspension of 16 years, in June 2020 during the pandemic, Vaze was reinstated in the Mumbai Police. He was later arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and the death of businessman Mansukh Hiran. Waze and a few others face serious charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Here too, Waze is a prime accused and therefore cannot become a public witness or be pardoned. His bail application was also rejected by the special NIA court.
extortion case
Following his arrest in March 2021 in connection with the Antilia bombing scandal and the death of Mansukh Hiran, Vaze was suspended and then dismissed from the Mumbai Police. Meanwhile, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh made allegations against the then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. The allegation was that Deshmukh had asked Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore every month from various restaurants and bars in and around Mumbai.
CBI, ED probe
The Bombay High Court ordered the CBI to investigate the allegations against Deshmukh, but the agency found the essence of the allegations and thus filed an FIR. Based on his FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also registered a complaint and probed the matter. According to investigators, Vaze had collected money from bars and restaurants based on Deshmukh’s orders and then handed over the entire money to him through his associates.
Both the ED and the CBI said that Vaiz played a key role in the chain of events that followed Deshmukh’s order. Thus, the CBI decided to accept Waze’s offer to become a government witness, granting him clemency. The cases of CBI as well as ED are similar, except in the case of ED it refers to how the money was laundered by Deshmukh.
While Vaze was granted clemency by a CBI court this week, he had already sent a letter to the investigating officer in the ED case seeking his approval. It is likely that Waze will file an application under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a special court as well as in the ED case soon to become a government witness. However, it is also likely that other accused in the ED case will strongly oppose that application.
In both the ED and CBI cases, Vaze has not been granted bail by the court.
Read also: The Antilia-Sachin Vaze case: the curious story of a rogue cop and Asia’s richest man