Mumbai: Vaze applies for bail, praises Ambanis

Mumbai: Dismissed policeman Sachin Vaze, the main accused in the bomb scare case concerning Mukesh Ambani, has sought bail in the offence and said in his application that as a police officer, he was aware that the industrialist and his family were the “most strongly guarded” private family in the country, thus he could not even think of committing such a “silly crime”.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleges he had tried to threaten and extort them not only with the explosives in a vehicle, but a threat note placed in the 4x4 too. He intended to reestablish himself as a super cop by staging a fake encounter to regain his lost glory, its charge sheet had stated.

Vaze's bail plea says he had high regards for Ambani family

In his plea, Vaze said that as a citizen of India, he had the “highest regards towards Shri Mukesh Ambani and his family members” for their contribution to upliftment of Indian economy. He said that “threatening” them, that too with certain “unexplodable” low-quality explosives coupled with irrelevant anonymous note, was one of the most silly things one could ever do. Under no circumstances he could think of committing such a “silly crime”, he added.

Vaze alleges his custody was illegal

Vaze further contended that the entire case of the prosecution was based on “bald allegations”. He also claimed he was entitled to be released on statutory bail as he was kept more than 15 days in police custody. While the NIA had applied Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in which more period of custody is permissible, Vaze contended that when he was arrested it was not under UAPA, hence that his custody was illegal.

He also pointed out that the charge sheet runs into more than 10,000 pages, there are 10 accused persons and 320 witnesses have been cited. He pointed out that there is delay in trial as procedures to be complied with for trial to begin, have not taken place even after one-and-a-half years of his arrest in March 2021.

False implication due to internal rivalry

He further said that his false implication due to internal rivalry in the police department is a possibility. His plea also pointed out the haste and lack of complying with procedure in granting sanction by authority as only within a day after the central government forwarded a report, the sanction was granted to charge seven out of 10 accused under the UAPA.