MUMBAI: As the mysterious death of SUV owner Mansukh Hiren continues to intensify, the Union Home Ministry on Monday handed over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).The agency is in the process of re-registering the case. NIA has received orders from MHA, GOI for investigation of case FIR 35/2020 registered at police station Gamdevi. This case is related to recovery of explosives from a Mahendra Scorpio parked at Carmichael Road, Mumbai. The Maharashtra Home minister had handed over the case to Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) last Friday. More than 10 teams of Anti-Terrorism Squad had been formed to probe the death of Hiren.
Last week, the Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) registered an FIR against unidentified persons under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including murder, disappearance of evidence, and criminal conspiracy. Addressing the Maharashtra Assembly, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the guilty won’t be spared. Making a statement in the state Assembly, Deshmukh said after Hiran’s wife expressed suspicion that her husband may have been murdered, the ATS registered a case against unidentified persons under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy).
Anil Deshmukh said, both the investigations are in the right direction. “NIA is acting in haste. ATS has good officers and has a big team but now the central government has taken the decision”, said the state home minister. The demand for the case to be handed over to the NIA was first made by Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis last week during the Assembly session. “There were not one but two cars. One was Scorpio and one Innova. Both the cars came from Thane and have followed the same route and reached the location. Sachin Vaze was the first police officer to reach the spot and then he was appointed as the Investigation Officer.
Three days ago, he was removed as the IO and I fail to understand why he was removed,” Fadnavis said. Fadnavis also claimed that Mansukh Hiren made calls to a number registered in the name of a person called Sachin Hindurao Vaze. Earlier to this Fadnavis said the state government should be ashamed of itself for failing to provide protection to Hiren. As per the reports, Hiran wrote a letter on 2nd of March to the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and police commissioners of Thane and Mumbai, alleging that he was being harassed by the police and media since the vehicle was found outside Ambani’s house.