Mumbai: A special NIA court here on Monday remanded former 'encounter specialist' police officer Pradeep Sharma in judicial custody till July 12 in the case of an explosives-laden vehicle found near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. The court also extended the NIA custody of two other accused - Manish Soni and Satish Mothkuri.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Sharma along with Soni and Mothkuri on June 17. On Monday, Sharma was produced before the special NIA court which sent him in judicial custody till July 12 as no further remand was sought by the probe agency. Two other accused in the case, Santosh Shelar and Anand Jadhav, who were arrested by the NIA from suburban Malad on June 11, were also sent in judicial custody till July 12.
Sharma's lawyer Sudeep Pasbola, citing 'threat perception' to the former police officer, requested the court to keep him in Thane jail. The lawyer told the court that Sharma had been an investigating officer in many cases. Before his arrest, he was under police protection. So, there is a perception of threat to him, the lawyer said. The NIA said it was not objecting to the application, but the decision to allot a jail to an undertrial is taken by prison authorities.
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The court then directed the superintendent of the Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai (where Sharma was to be taken) to look into the allegations (of threat perception), and act accordingly. An explosives-laden SUV was found abandoned near Ambani's residence 'Antilia' in south Mumbai on February 25 this year. Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who had claimed that he was in possession of the vehicle, was found dead in a creek in Mumbra on March 5. Meanwhile, in a related development, the NIA on Monday sought five-day custody of Soni and Mothkuri.
