The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed that former cop Pradeep Sharma was the main conspirator in the ‘cold-blooded murder’ of businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was considered the weak link in the larger conspiracy of terrorising the Ambani family.
The statement was made by the NIA in its affidavit filed before the Bombay high court on Wednesday while opposing Sharma’s bail petition. Sharma was arrested by the NIA on June 17, 2021, and is presently in judicial custody.
He has approached the HC challenging the special court order rejecting his bail in February 2022.
A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and G A Sanap has kept the petition for hearing on July 17.
The NIA has further contended that Sharma was not innocent and had committed offences of criminal conspiracy, murder and terror acts. “Pradeep Sharma was an active member of a gang that had conspired to terrorise people, including the Ambani family, and murdered Mansukh Hiran, as he was a weak link in the conspiracy,” read the NIA affidavit.
According to the NIA, Hiran was aware of the whole conspiracy regarding the parking of the gelatin sticks-laden vehicle outside Antilia and the “accused persons” (Sharma and Vaze) apprehended that he (Hiran) would ‘spill the beans’, which would then make it difficult for Sharma and Vaze to continue to ‘reap the fruits’ of the larger conspiracy.
Stating that Sharma and the other accused committed a heinous and serious offence under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the NIA affidavit read: “From evidence gathered, it is crystal clear that Pradeep Sharma was directly involved in the crime and had committed offences of conspiracy, terrorist act, being member of a terrorist gang, kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence.”
The investigating agency has further contended that Sharma willingly and intentionally entered into a ‘well-organised criminal conspiracy for the execution of murder of Mansukh Hiran’, which was a direct outcome of the terrorist act committed by co-accused Sachin Vaze and others.
The Central agency has claimed that Hiran was killed after he refused to take the blame for parking an explosive-laden vehicle outside Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. “When Hiran refused to take blame for the crime, Waze hatched a conspiracy with Sharma and the other accused to kill Hiran so that he (Hiran) does not divulge that Waze was the one who parked the vehicle outside Antilia," read the NIA affidavit.
According to the NIA, ‘the larger conspiracy in the present case included the parking of an explosives-laden vehicle outside Antilia and circulating threat letters in the name of the Jaish-ul-Hind to terrorise the Ambani family and local people’.
After killing Hiran, the accused tried to show that he had committed suicide. Interestingly, Sharma and the other accused attended various meetings inside the compound of the Police Commissionerate office building, where the alleged conspiracy was hatched.
Sharma, as the main conspirator, hired henchmen to kill Hiran by paying them a huge sum of money which he received from Vaze, the NIA claimed, adding that the latter (Vaze) had given Rs 45 lakh for the purpose.
After the murder, Sharma asked the co-accused to flee from Mumbai to Nepal to evade arrest.
Stating that Sharma was an influential cop and was famously known as an ‘encounter specialist’, the NIA has said that if released on bail, he could tamper with evidence and influence witnesses.
