On the morning of February 25, a vehicle full of explosives was found near the home of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia, in the heart of Mumbai.
In the ensuing days, the body of the alleged owner of the vehicle washed up in the sea near India’s commercial commercial capital, and a police officer believed to be familiar with the dead man was arrested.
Federal detectives are now investigating the mystery, which quickly turned into a teasing unit with many loose ends.
How did it all start?
According to Mumbai police, the security staff of Antilia, the luxurious 27-storey house, Mr. On the morning of February 25, Ambani spotted the green Scorpion sport utility vehicle in the area and informed them.
Police arrived with bomb disposal experts, secured the area and searched the empty vehicle.
Inside, they found 20 sticks of lignite that weighed about 2.5 kg. Gelignite, invented by the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, is an inexpensive explosive that cannot explode without explosion.
The sticks were loose and not connected to each other or to a device. A ballistics expert told India Today that the explosive, if exploded, was “enough to blow up the car”.
Five vehicle plates and a printed note were also found in the vehicle that belonged to Mr. Ambani and his wife, Nita, are targeted.
‘It’s a trailer, but next time we’ll call [all these explosives] and come. We have made arrangements to blow up your whole family, ”reads the letter.
Mr. Ambani, who chairs Reliance Industries, has an estimated fortune of more than $ 76 billion (£ 54 billion). The group’s core business is oil refining, but it also has large investments in other sectors, including retail and telecommunications.
What do we know about the abandoned vehicle?
Mumbai police have been searching for the CCTV footage from the night when the mysterious vehicle outside Mr. Ambani’s home appears on Carmichael Road, an exclusive residential area with luxury bungalows and apartment buildings.
They found that the Scorpion was waiting at a busy intersection around midnight, about 15 km from Ambani’s residence.
At 01:40 local time, a white Toyota SUV joined the vehicle and both drove through deserted streets to Carmichael Road, where Mr. Ambani and his family have been living for the past ten years.
Both vehicles reached the location around 02:30 local time. The Toyota SUV followed the Scorpio-laden explosives. The Scorpion has 500 meters from the house of mr. Ambani came to a halt.
Then the police said on the footage how a man in protective gear came out of the Scorpion and got into the Toyota. The Toyota then drove into the night.
Cameras see it on the highway and enter the suburb of Thane before going outside the CCTV coverage.
So who owned the bomb-laden car?
Police have traced the abandoned Scorpion to Mansukh Hiren, a local businessman who owned a car accessory store in Thane.
Mr Hiren said during questioning to investigators that the vehicle belonged to another man who did not pay him for a job repairing vehicles. Mr Hiren said he had ‘taken possession’ of it.
He also told police that he was traveling on a highway near Mumbai on February 17 when the steering wheel of the vehicle got stuck. He parked the vehicle there and went home, he said.
When he returned the next morning to pick up the car, it was not there. He lodged a complaint with the police at the nearest police station.
The case of the bombed vehicle outside the house of Mr. Ambani soon sparked a political storm in Maharashtra. On March 5, an opposition leader said Hiren should provide protection as he was a key witness in the case.
Hours later, news networks reported that Hiren’s body had washed up in a creek near Mumbai.
What do we know about Mansukh Hiren’s death?
Police say he left his store for the home on the evening of March 4th.
When he got home, he told his family that he had received a call from a policeman named ‘Officer Tawde’ and that he would meet him.
Mr Hiren did not return that evening. The next day, his family reported him missing.
Police later said Mr Hiren left the house at 8pm that evening and that his phone was switched off a little over three hours later. The identity of the policeman he says he will meet is still unknown.
When police began investigating, they were informed of a body that had washed up on the shore.
They say the inflated body in the creek tied ‘four or five handkerchiefs’ around the face.
A preliminary post-mortem report indicates it is drowning, but a full report is awaited. Cause of death has yet to be announced.
Mumbai police have registered a case of murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence against an “unknown person” over the charge of Hiren’s wife.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the explosive-laden car is being conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a federal anti-terrorism unit.
Why was a police officer arrested?
Among the policemen who reached Carmichael Road with the receipt of information about the abandoned vehicle was Sachin Vaze, an assistant inspector at the elite crime branch of the Mumbai police.
Mr Vaze said he had “reached the place three to four hours” to the local police team and senior officers.
On March 13, federal detectives arrested Vaze after questioning him for 12 hours in connection with the case.
The next day, detectives found the missing Toyota sports utility vehicle in a garage of the Mumbai police crime branch.
Investigators believe Vaze was part of a plan to park the car with explosives outside Ambani’s house, an allegation denied by the police officer.
The NIA charged the officer with conspiracy, criminal intimidation and negligent conduct in dealing with explosives, and a court dismissed his appeal for bail.
Meanwhile, Hiren’s wife told reporters that her husband knew Vaze well, and that the two had been using the Scorpion for almost two years. She said that her husband ‘together with mr. Vase ‘went out and went home’.
Mr Vaze told reporters he knew nothing of Hiren or his death.
Who’s Sachin Vaze?
Sachin Vaze joined the police in 1990.
In Mumbai, he worked with a team of “meeting specialists” – a small, close-knit group of policemen who received much credit in the late 1990s for cleaning up crime in the city.
They are feared by criminals, detested by human rights activists and envied by their colleagues. Their opponents say they are a law unto themselves, often working with criminals.
In May 2004, Vaze was suspended in connection with the death of a 27-year-old software engineer in police custody. Khwaja Yunus was by mr. Vaze and his team posted in connection with an explosion in the city. Mr Vaze has denied any responsibility for Yunus’ death.
He resigned from service in 2007, but his resignation was not accepted.
In 2008, the suspended official joined Shiv Sena, the right-wing party that is now the leader of the coalition-ruling Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital. Shiv Sena leaders say he ‘was not politically active’.
Last year in June, his suspension was finally lifted and Mr. Vaze rejoined the head of the Crime Branch’s Intelligence Unit.
Officials have explained that he was reinstated as a Covid-19 measure to tide the shortage of staff, but according to critics, it is a political favor that is being returned to a suspended official.
Last week, police in Mumbai Vaze suspended for a second time. He is now in police custody. His lawyers denied all the allegations against him.
What are the unanswered questions?
There are several – here are a few:
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What was the motive for a vehicle full of explosives near the house of Mr. Ambani to park?
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Why was it towed by another vehicle – which was later found in a police station?
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Who were the people who drove these two SUVs?
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Was the bomb-laden vehicle really stolen?
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Who killed Mr Hiren? And why?