Mumbai, Oct 1 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has informed a court here that it will not rely on the statement of former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh during the trial of the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case.
On February 25, 2021, an explosives-laden SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence 'Antilia' in south Mumbai. Businessman Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV, was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5, 2021.
The central probe agency recently filed its compliance report before the special NIA court with a list of un-relied witness statements, documents, and material objects in the interest of a fair trial.
Among the 29 witness statements that the prosecution has chosen not to rely upon are two statements of Singh, recorded on August 29 and August 30 in 2022, the report said.
As per the report, the NIA has categorized 34 documents as un-relied, including multiple notices under Section 160 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and correspondence exchanged between the agency and Singh between August 2021 and August 2022.
Additionally, the prosecution has opted not to rely on notice sent to messaging platform Telegram FZ LLC in Dubai, several voice specimen and handwriting panchnamas, a gait proceeding panchnama dated April 5, 2021, and CCTV correspondence with the Railway Protection Force (RPF).
Former policemen Sachin Waze and Pradeep Sharma are among ten accused facing trial in the case. They have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections for murder, extortion and destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy as well as relevant provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Explosive Substances Act.
