Sachin Waze: From Mumbai's top encounter specialist to being investigated by NIA

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday presented police officer Sachin Waze before a court here in connection with a probe into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis house in Mumbai.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): From being one of the top encounter specialists of Mumbai Police, with 63 encounters under his belt, Sachin Waze's journey in the force has now come under a cloud with the NIA taking him into custody after allegations of his involvement in the Antilia bomb scare.

The rise of Waze has been gradual. 1972 born Sachin Waze joined Maharashtra Police in 1990 as a sub-inspector. In the initial part of his career, he was posted in the Naxal-affected Gadchiroli area. Later, he was transferred to Thane in Maharashtra where he gained fame in a very short span of time by his way of handling and solving crime cases.

Further, he was transferred to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. In the late 1990s, he was termed as an Encounter Specialist and became the face of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. He has conducted 63 encounters under his name, including one of the dreaded gangster Munna Nepali.

The encounter specialist first came under the scanner when he was suspended in March 2004 after allegations of custodial death of a 2002 Ghatkopar blast suspect Khwaja Yunus. He was suspended along with 14 other cops at that time. Later, when his application for being reinstated was rejected, he resigned from the police force in November 2007 and joined Shiv Sena in 2008.

As years passed by, in June 2020, he was reinstated in the Mumbai police's CIU.

However, in the latest turn of events, Waze has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency on March 13 for his alleged role and involvement in the Antilla bomb scare case.

The NIA will present Sachin Waze, an assistant police inspector with the Mumbai Police, who was arrested in connection with the investigation into the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai, before a special court today to demand his custody.

This came days after Waze, was who was leading the investigating of Mansukh Hiren's death in the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), was transferred to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at the Mumbai Police Headquarters.

"Sachin Waze API Mumbai Police Crime Branch has been arrested for his role and involvement in Placing an explosives-laden vehicle near Carmichael Road (near Mukesh Ambani's house) on 25th February 2021," said an official statement of NIA.

Waze was summoned to the NIA office on Saturday to record his statement, in connection with the recovery of explosives from a car parked near Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai. Later, he was arrested under section 286, 465, 473, 506(2), 120 B of the Indian Penal Code, and 4(a)(b)(I) of the Explosive Substances Act 1908.

A car carrying unassembled explosive materials was found abandoned at Carmichael Road in South Mumbai on February 25, near the house of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

The owner of the vehicle, Mansukh Hiren, was found dead in a creek in the Thane district on Friday. Now, ATS Maharashtra is investigating the case.

ANI