By Venkatesh Raghavan
Mumbai: The SUV parked outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence that was found to contain explosives had stirred a hornet’s nest soon after the owner of the car who had reported it being stolen, Mansukh Hiren was found dead in the precincts of the Thane creek on March 5, slightly over 10 days after the incident.
Intelligence reports stated that Mansukh faced the wrath of the Islamist fundamentalist organisation Indian Mujahideen (IM) that had ties with Pakistan’s LeT and JeM. The IM wanted to eliminate him as they felt that his presence was a threat to their plans to target the residences of top industrialists in Mumbai. The intelligence report further stated, “The IM was seeking the release of its operatives who had in the recent past been arrested in New Delhi and Bihar. It had made a written communication to the effect that industrialists will get targeted if they fail to secure the release of their operatives.”
Top intelligence sources confirmed that Hiren was targeted for being in possession of and passing on valuable information to the Crime Branch. In fact, the IM high command based overseas pressed for his urgent elimination, the source added.
The IM angle also talked about how the terror outfit engaged in proxy war against India by maintaining and activating sleeper cells. The reports also claimed that the mobile number of one of the IM operatives had been leaked to the Crime Branch officials. While they were trying to call and track the person on the said number, the news of Hiren’s body being found near the Kalwa creek came to light first as a suicide bid and subsequently based on his wife Vimla Hiren’s official police complaint as an act of murder. On further inspection, the police concluded that the killers miscalculated the duration of the buffer period they will get, failing to anticipate the set in of low tide.
A senior officer who had retired from the constabulary opined, “These acts where the police manage to find explosives are used as diversionary tactics, meaning while the police force is focused on investigating the particular incident, the terror operatives succeed in striking elsewhere.”
The 46-year-old resident of Thane, Hiren had filed a complaint about his Scorpio getting stolen that had led to the subsequent tracing of the vehicle besides discovery of explosive materials. The FIR filed by his wife states that her late husband had handed over the SUV to Crime Branch officer Sachin Vaze way back in November last. It further said, “Vaze had returned the vehicle on February 5, citing steering problems with the car.” The police found that her statement corroborated with Mansukh’s claim that the vehicle was left on the Mulund-Airoli link road owing to steering problems. The date the vehicle was cited as February 17.
The IM operatives had activated their sleeper cell reportedly from a Gulf state to eliminate Mansukh, claimed the intelligence report. Hiren’s wife in her complaint to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has however, accused Crime Branch officer API Vaze of killing her husband. This follows a history of repeated calls and interactions between Vaze and Mansukh post the discovery of the SUV outside Ambani’s Antilia residence and the family attempting to procure anticipatory bail to thwart any arrest bid.
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