Bombay High Court Cancels Former Cop Sachin Waze’s Bail in Antilia Explosives Case

The Bombay high court on Thursday quashed a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court order releasing on bail, dismissed police officer Sachin Waze in the Antilia explosives scare case and the murder of auto-parts seller Mansukh Hiran in 2021.

A division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale on Thursday allowed an appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against an order of the special court dated September 29 that granted bail to Waze.

The case of the bomb scare in Antilia connects with the recovery of a Mahindra Scorpio SUV with gelatine sticks and a threat letter on February 25, 2021 at the residence of the industrialist, Antilia. It was stolen by Hiran a week before. He was discovered in a creek in Thane on March 5, 2021.

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The NIA has since taken over the explosives case and subsequently probed into Hiran's murder and the related vehicle theft incident as part of the alleged conspiracy on March 8, 2021. Its charge sheet includes former “encounter specialist” Pradeep Sharma and eight others who allegedly participated in the encounter in various capacities.

Prosecutors claim the car theft, placement of the explosives-laden SUV, and Hiran's slaying had a connection. The investigators claimed the explosives incident was not an isolated incident, but part of a conspiracy while Hiran's death was an important link in the case. The allegations are yet to be proved at trial.

The NIA has said that Waze had himself parked the SUV outside Antilia and handed Sharma a contract to kill Hiran after the businessman refused to accept the responsibility for planting the SUV. The agency said Sharma got the four contract killers organised and another officer, Inspector Sunil Mane, went to his house and handed Hiran over to the contract killers.

Waze got arrested by the NIA in March 2021. Five years later, on September 29, a special court set up by the NIA gave Waze bail, saying that the agency had not substantiated the anti-terror charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The high court, however, allowed the bail application to be stayed the very next day on an appeal by the NIA.

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Prosecution's argument: The theft was linked to the placement of the explosives-laden SUV and the murder of Hiran was linked to the theft. Investigators stated that the explosives attack was not a random act, but rather a bigger conspiracy, that involved Hiran's death in the case. The allegations are yet to be proved at trial.

Waze himself had parked the SUV outside Antilia and had handed over a contract to Sharma to kill Hiran after the businessman refused to take the blame for planting the case, the NIA has said. According to the agency, Sharma arranged for four contract killers and another police officer, inspector Sunil Mane, came to pick up Hiran from his house and handed him to the contract killers.

In March 2021, Waze was arrested by the NIA. A special NIA court, on September 29, five years later, granted bail to Waze, stating that the agency had not established any anti-terror activity charges against it under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). But the bail was later canceled by high court after an urgent application by the NIA the next day.

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