Ambani Bomb Scare Case: Param Bir Singh Used ‘Balaji Kurkure' as FaceTime ID

In February 2021, a Scorpio car full of gelatin sticks was found parked outside the residence of Mukesh Ambani.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

During investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Antilia bomb scare case and murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren, an intelligence officer from the State Intelligence Department said, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh allegedly used FaceTime ID 'Balaji Kurkure' to communicate through his phone.

The intelligence officer told the NIA that the ID on Singh's iPhone was created in his office in April. The ID was named 'Balaji Kurkure', the officer said, because a packet of the brand's snack pack was kept in Param Bir Singh's office when it was created.

A phone-seller had come to Param Bir Singh's DG Home Guard office, where Singh selected a second-hand phone, the office said in his statement to the NIA.

He added that since there was no network inside Singh's office, the person who was activating the FaceTime ID came outside and asked the Intelligence officer to enter the ID and password.

The Antilia Bomb Scare Case

In February of this year, a Scorpio car full of gelatin sticks was found parked outside Antilia, the residence of businessman Mukesh Ambani.

The investigation, that was initially being conducted by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 8 March.

In an FIR filed on 7 March, Hiren’s kin have alleged that Vaze was associated with the family for long before the car was found outside Ambani’s house and that the car was in Vaze’s possession for months before it was returned to Hiren and went missing the same day.

Vaze was later arrested by the NIA and has been named as the prime conspirator in the case.

The Investigation

Meanwhile, the NIA has written to Apple Inc to look into email IDs and accounts in connection with the probe and trying to piece together various online accounts to expose the conspiracy around Hiren's death.

Police officer Sachin Vaze and former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma are believed to be the key conspirators in the case.

The intelligence officer also verified that a cyber expert was paid Rs 5 lakh to fabricate a report at the behest of Singh, stating that Jaish-Ul-Hind, a terror outfit, was behind the planting of the explosive gelatin sticks near Ambani's Antilla residence, NDTV reported.

As per the intelligence office, Singh said that the report will be shared with the NIA. Though the report was meant to be confidential as the terror outfit was being investigated by the Delhi Police in another case, it got leaked the next day.

Though the NIA has not been able to establish Singh's role in the conspiracy yet, the chargesheet contains witness statements that point to the former Mumbai top cop for being involved in propagating that Jaish-Ul-Hind was behind the bomb scare.

(With inputs from NDTV)