Mumbai: Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, who is facing prosecution for his alleged role in the murder of Thane trader Mansukh Hiran, has approached the special NIA court, requesting directions for the agency to submit the statements of former city police commissioner Parambir Singh and ACP Avinash Dharmadhikari before the court.
About The Case
It has been alleged that Singh and Sharma met in Worli and allegedly discussed Hiran, whose explosives-laden car was found outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s home in February 2021. However, Singh claims that Hiran was not discussed and that their conversation was solely about gangster Ravi Pujari.
As per the prosecution case, prior to the murder of Hiran on the night of March 4, 2021, dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze had a meeting with Singh and Sharma on February 28, 2021 and March 2, 2021. It was alleged that the conspiracy to eliminate Hiran was hatched in those meetings.
Singh has in his statement denied the allegations and claimed, “I deny that there was a meeting at my residence or in my office or that Sachin Vaze and Pradip Sharma both came together to my residence at Malabar Hill. Pradeep Sharma had visited once in the evening at my residence to discuss his concerns in the Ravi Pujari matter.”
Singh in his statement claimed Vaze visited him a few times at his residence earlier regarding briefing about the discussions he had during his visits to CM and HM in sensitive cases that he was handling. With this, Sharma claims, “If these two statements are recorded by the NIA, it is the duty of the prosecution to produce the same and not to produce half-baked evidence.”
