NIA: Vaze Ran His Alleged Extortion Racket From Room 1964

A NIA official said, “Senior police officials were very well aware of the kind of business Vaze was conducting.”

The National Investigation Agency's (NIA) probe has revealed that arrested top cop Sachin Vaze was running his alleged extortion racket from a room booked in a five-star hotel for 100 days, at a cost of Rs 12 lakh by a businessman.

Based on the investigations, a special NIA court on Saturday, 3 April, extended Vaze’s custody till 7 April for his alleged involvement in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case and his alleged role in the death of Mansukh Hiren.

The NIA, in its investigation, said that the now-suspended Vaze had used a forged an aadhar card and a fictitious name (Sushant Sadashiv Khamkar) to check into the hotel, from where he conducted his operations.

Several of Vaze’s colleagues have been interviewed by the probe body looking into the bomb scare against Mukesh Ambani. The police officers may even be arrested in future, the probe showed.

A senior NIA official said that Vaze stayed in the hotel in February and claimed that, “A businessman had booked this hotel for 100 days and for Rs 12 lakh. Vaze was helping this businessman in some dispute,” reported NDTV.

Vaze had allegedly entered the hotel in an Innova on 16 February and left on 20 February in a Land Cruiser. Both the vehicles were later seized by NIA.

The NIA official explained, "The dates also coincide with those when he and his team members were raiding various establishments in Mumbai at night for license violations.”

Vaze was arrested on 13 March, for his alleged role in planting an explosive-laden vehicle near Ambani’s residence. The killing of Mansukh Hiren, the vehicle’s owner is also being probed with Vaze as the key suspect.

Another hotel and club in south Mumbai were searched. A flat in Thane was also searched on Thursday, 1 April. A woman associate of Vaze who allegedly owned the flat was arrested on Friday, 2 April, from an airport.

A senior official said, "Senior police officials were very well aware of the kind of business Vaze was conducting. We have enough evidence to prove it," NDTV reported.

Another NIA official stated, "Vaze was sorting out many deals for many influential people but as we are not an agency to look into anti-corruption matters, we would pass the evidence to relevant agencies."

(With inputs from NDTV.)