Maharashtra ATS Files Reply in Sachin Vaze’s Bail Plea

Mumbai Cop Sachin Vaze after being produced by National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a court following his arrest, on Sunday, 14 March.

(Photo: PTI/Mitesh Bhuvad)

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday, 19 March, filed its reply in Thane sessions court to the anticipatory bail application of Sachin Vaze in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case.

The matter will be next heard on 30 March.

A day before he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Vaze had filed a pre-arrest bail application in a court in Thane on 12 March, terming the FIR filed by the Maharashtra ATS as "baseless and without any motive”, since the FIR didn’t name any persons.

Facing the heat of the controversial case, Vaze was arrested on 13 March by the NIA and was suspended a day later.

What Vaze Had Said in the Bail Application

Vaze had asserted that the FIR was the result of a ‘witch-hunt,’ and the time at which Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the bomb-scare SUV, went missing and was allegedly killed, Vaze was in Dongri in South Mumbai.

Waze’s advocate AM Kalekar had asked the court for interim protection from arrest for Vaze. However, Additional Sessions Judge SS Tambe declined to grant interim protection to the police officer.

The court had further posted the plea for hearing for 19 March, and asked the investigation officer to file his affidavit in reply to Vaze’s plea.

Meanwhile, a six-member team of Pune's Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reached NIA’s office in Mumbai on Friday, 19 March, in connection with the recovery of explosives-laden SUV near Mukesh Ambani's residence.