A Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court has extended the agency's custody of Mumbai cop Sachin Waze till April 7..Waze was arrested in connection with the case concerning the explosives-loaded SUV found outside billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai on February 25..An FIR was registered by the NIA on March 8 under Sections 286 (negligent conduct with explosive substance), 465 (punishment for forgery), 473 (counterfeit seal) and 506(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code..Waze was arrested at 11:50 pm on March 27 and was interrogated for 13 hours before he was produced before the Special NIA Court. He was earlier remanded to NIA custody on March 14..Appearing for the NIA Court today, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh sought for six additional days of custody. He submitted that for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, custody of up to 30 days can be granted. He stated that so far, the NIA has remanded Waze for 22 days and they could remand him for 8 more days. Regardless of this fact, NIA sought for only 6 days..Singh apprised the Court on the developments in the case from the previous hearing till date..He submitted that a disclosure statement had been obtained under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act after the NIA recovered a damaged CPU, laptop, DVR, printer and number-plates. The evidence was allegedly recovered from Mithi River in the city..Singh further stated that the NIA had recovered a joint account with a suspect in the DCB Bank account and locker of Versova that allegedly had Rs. 26.50 lakh as on March 8, 2021. .NIA discovered that while Waze was in custody, his account was allegedly operated by an accomplice on March 27, after which only Rs. 4,000 remained in that account. NIA required custody to find out at whose instance the account was operated..Singh further submitted that they had recovered over 120 TB of CCTV data. He said that since downloading this data would itself take 4-5 days, they required more time.He told the Court that there were numerous bank accounts linked to Waze, with which he has to be confronted..The ASG stated that a raid at the house of co-accused Vinayak Shinde has led to the recovery of several documents which need to be confronted to find the connection with the present case. A raid at a South Mumbai club has revealed a diary in which a large amount of money has allegedly been given to Waze. NIA wants to investigate why that money was given, Singh said..Singh argued that the raid at Waze's house had led to recovery of a passport not belonging to him..He thus argued that custody was essential for three reasons:It was essential to find out the connection between the assets recovered and the purpose and connection with the UAPA case.It was important to know what sort of transaction took place - who were the conspirators, who were paid etc..He concluded by stating that "conspiracy is always hatched in secrecy", and that it was important for NIA to crack this conspiracy..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda opposed the application stating that the ten grounds in the remand application did not point out why NIA required Waze's custody beyond 15 days..He argued that it was crucial to divide Waze's custody into two aspects: the first 15 days of custody was for investigation of all offences other than UAPA offences. To extend custody beyond that period, it was important for the NIA to show the specific grounds requiring custody for UAPA offences..Ponda further argued,"Where is the ground for UAPA which should have been shown if the custody of accused is being sought beyond 15 years? Not a whisper in the application.".He added that the prosecution may have apprised the Court on the collection of evidence, however it failed to tell the Court the dates on which the evidence was collected..His contention was that the prosecution had enough time to collect evidence and then to examine it. He said the "weighty contentions in the remand application was nothing but hogwash"..Ponda further submitted that the evidence which was allegedly recovered from the Mithi River could not have been so easily recovered as it was a very long and deep river. "They have foisted it on me and are claiming that I (Waze) am responsible for it...the river "is open for anyone to dump anything in it including dumping of number plates and it will still end up being foisted on Waze.".On the evidence being investigated by NIA, Ponda said that there was nothing much to which Waze could add to apart from what is already present before the NIA. .Ponda also quipped that the evidence which NIA seemed to be relying upon was flashed all over the media before it was declared as evidence in court. "Secrecy is maintained in Court but then the press knows more than the lawyer in this case," he said..On instructions from Waze, Ponda made a statement that his client did not have any joint account or locker as alleged by NIA. "Show me the bank account opening form with my photo and signature. I have instructions that he does not have any such account. But if you are alleging this, then you need to show the paper," Ponda stated..Ponda further contended that the argument that the locker was operated while Waze was in custody showed the NIA in poor light, as someone could access a supposed piece of evidence in the case..He concluded by stating that it was not possible to show "non-existence of something" and that it was "NIA's responsibility to show existence"..After hearing the arguments at length, Additional Sessions Judge PR Sitre extended the remand till April 7..The Court was also approached with an application by Waze on Thursday seeking medical consultation on the grounds that he experienced chest pain and had 90% blockages in his heart. The Court had called for his medical reports today. .It was also submitted to the Court that Waze was being given prompt and requisite medical aid by the NIA. .The Court directed NIA to continue with whatever measures they were taking to aid Waze's condition. In the event of any emergency, NIA was directed to take expedient measures to ensure that he received the best healthcare facilities..The Court also called for a more detailed report on the medical status of Waze.
A Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court has extended the agency's custody of Mumbai cop Sachin Waze till April 7..Waze was arrested in connection with the case concerning the explosives-loaded SUV found outside billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai on February 25..An FIR was registered by the NIA on March 8 under Sections 286 (negligent conduct with explosive substance), 465 (punishment for forgery), 473 (counterfeit seal) and 506(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code..Waze was arrested at 11:50 pm on March 27 and was interrogated for 13 hours before he was produced before the Special NIA Court. He was earlier remanded to NIA custody on March 14..Appearing for the NIA Court today, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh sought for six additional days of custody. He submitted that for offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, custody of up to 30 days can be granted. He stated that so far, the NIA has remanded Waze for 22 days and they could remand him for 8 more days. Regardless of this fact, NIA sought for only 6 days..Singh apprised the Court on the developments in the case from the previous hearing till date..He submitted that a disclosure statement had been obtained under Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act after the NIA recovered a damaged CPU, laptop, DVR, printer and number-plates. The evidence was allegedly recovered from Mithi River in the city..Singh further stated that the NIA had recovered a joint account with a suspect in the DCB Bank account and locker of Versova that allegedly had Rs. 26.50 lakh as on March 8, 2021. .NIA discovered that while Waze was in custody, his account was allegedly operated by an accomplice on March 27, after which only Rs. 4,000 remained in that account. NIA required custody to find out at whose instance the account was operated..Singh further submitted that they had recovered over 120 TB of CCTV data. He said that since downloading this data would itself take 4-5 days, they required more time.He told the Court that there were numerous bank accounts linked to Waze, with which he has to be confronted..The ASG stated that a raid at the house of co-accused Vinayak Shinde has led to the recovery of several documents which need to be confronted to find the connection with the present case. A raid at a South Mumbai club has revealed a diary in which a large amount of money has allegedly been given to Waze. NIA wants to investigate why that money was given, Singh said..Singh argued that the raid at Waze's house had led to recovery of a passport not belonging to him..He thus argued that custody was essential for three reasons:It was essential to find out the connection between the assets recovered and the purpose and connection with the UAPA case.It was important to know what sort of transaction took place - who were the conspirators, who were paid etc..He concluded by stating that "conspiracy is always hatched in secrecy", and that it was important for NIA to crack this conspiracy..Senior Advocate Aabad Ponda opposed the application stating that the ten grounds in the remand application did not point out why NIA required Waze's custody beyond 15 days..He argued that it was crucial to divide Waze's custody into two aspects: the first 15 days of custody was for investigation of all offences other than UAPA offences. To extend custody beyond that period, it was important for the NIA to show the specific grounds requiring custody for UAPA offences..Ponda further argued,"Where is the ground for UAPA which should have been shown if the custody of accused is being sought beyond 15 years? Not a whisper in the application.".He added that the prosecution may have apprised the Court on the collection of evidence, however it failed to tell the Court the dates on which the evidence was collected..His contention was that the prosecution had enough time to collect evidence and then to examine it. He said the "weighty contentions in the remand application was nothing but hogwash"..Ponda further submitted that the evidence which was allegedly recovered from the Mithi River could not have been so easily recovered as it was a very long and deep river. "They have foisted it on me and are claiming that I (Waze) am responsible for it...the river "is open for anyone to dump anything in it including dumping of number plates and it will still end up being foisted on Waze.".On the evidence being investigated by NIA, Ponda said that there was nothing much to which Waze could add to apart from what is already present before the NIA. .Ponda also quipped that the evidence which NIA seemed to be relying upon was flashed all over the media before it was declared as evidence in court. "Secrecy is maintained in Court but then the press knows more than the lawyer in this case," he said..On instructions from Waze, Ponda made a statement that his client did not have any joint account or locker as alleged by NIA. "Show me the bank account opening form with my photo and signature. I have instructions that he does not have any such account. But if you are alleging this, then you need to show the paper," Ponda stated..Ponda further contended that the argument that the locker was operated while Waze was in custody showed the NIA in poor light, as someone could access a supposed piece of evidence in the case..He concluded by stating that it was not possible to show "non-existence of something" and that it was "NIA's responsibility to show existence"..After hearing the arguments at length, Additional Sessions Judge PR Sitre extended the remand till April 7..The Court was also approached with an application by Waze on Thursday seeking medical consultation on the grounds that he experienced chest pain and had 90% blockages in his heart. The Court had called for his medical reports today. .It was also submitted to the Court that Waze was being given prompt and requisite medical aid by the NIA. .The Court directed NIA to continue with whatever measures they were taking to aid Waze's condition. In the event of any emergency, NIA was directed to take expedient measures to ensure that he received the best healthcare facilities..The Court also called for a more detailed report on the medical status of Waze.
