Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis claims the Ambani bomb scare case and the car dealer Mansukh Hiran murder case are connected, demands that the NIA probe the latter case, too
Devendra Fadnavis during a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. Pic/PTI
Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said Parambir Singh, who was transferred from the city police chief’s office on Wednesday, is small fry and that the political operators of suspended police officer Sachin Waze should be nailed if the cases of the bomb scare and the murder of Mansukh Hiran are to be taken to their logical end. He has demanded that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) should probe the murder case as well.
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Fadnavis reiterated the comments he has made in relation to the case. On Wednesday, he targeted the Shiv Sena more directly, asking the agencies to find out the political operators of Waze, who was reinstated into the force last year. He was speaking at BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
“It’s not the failure of the police, but of the government,” he said. “Waze alone can’t do something like this. Parambir Singh and Waze are small entities. The stakes are very high in this case. There is more to it than meets the eye. What was the plan behind all this? We all know there were extortion rackets run by some police officers in the past.”
Fadnavis said that Uddhav Thackeray and some of his ministers in the then BJP-Sena government had asked him to reinstate Waze in 2018 when he was the CM.
“I sought legal advice and rejected the demand because the High Court had suspended Waze,” he said, adding that once the Sena government came to power Waze’s reinstatement process was started and completed against the law of the land.
“People who are in the government have been controlling Waze. Who will find these people?” he asked, claiming Hiran’s murder and the bomb scare cases are connected.
‘ATS under pressure’
Fadnavis alleged that the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is under pressure and ineffective in probing Hiran’s murder. “I don’t doubt the ATS but the officers are certainly under pressure and have gone slow in the probe,” he said.
Fadnavis said the Mumbai police chief couldn’t run away from the responsibility because Waze reported to him directly. “All high-profile cases were given to Waze,” Fadnavis said.
He added that the Scorpio laden with explosives was actually bought by Waze from Hiran. “Waze didn’t pay Hiran and hence he had to return the vehicle,” he said, adding that he had handed the NIA all the evidence he had.
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