Antilia bomb case: Dismissed cop Kazi destroyed evidence, aided in offence, says NIA court

A special NIA court while denying bail to dismissed policeman Riyazuddin Kazi, arrested in the Antilia bomb scare case, has held that he had knowledge of the conspiracy hatched for placing explosives near the residence of businessman Mukesh Ambani.

The court further noted that Kazi had destroyed the evidence at the behest of co-accused Sachin Vaze and thus, aided in the offence committed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Special Judge A T Wankhede had rejected Kazi's bail plea on March 1, and the detailed order was made available on Friday.

Kazi, who had closely worked with accused policeman Sachin Vaze, was posted with the crime intelligence unit of the Mumbai Crime Branch when the gelatin sticks-laden Scorpio car was found outside Antilia, the official residence of Ambani. He has been arrested for his alleged role in destroying evidence pertaining to the case.

The court, in its order, said, "Prima facie, it appears from the previous and subsequent conduct of the accused that he was having knowledge of the main object/purpose of the conspiracy hatched for placing the gelatin sticks-laden vehicle at Carmichael Road (near Ambani's residence)." The accused, at the instance of Vaze, had collected the DVRs, CPU, etc. to destroy the evidence, the order stated.

"Ultimately, the applicant/accused aided and abetted for the commission of the offence under the UAPA," the judge added. Kazi's lawyer had argued that there was no evidence from which inference can be drawn that the applicant had conspired with Vaze. "However, the material placed on record by the prosecution prima facie suggests about the conspiracy hatched by the applicant/accused with that of the accused number one (Vaze)," the court said.

The court observed that it is being tried to impress that acts done by Kazi were an outcome of his following the orders of his superiors. Although some directions were issued by Vaze, Kazi was expected to follow the due procedure of law. Prima facie, it seems that he had given a go by to all the procedure in order to destroy the evidence, the court said.

Kazi has been charged with sections 120-B (party to criminal conspiracy) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC. Kazi's role came to light after Vaze was arrested on March 13 last year. The other accused in the case include former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and former policemen Vinayak Shinde and Sunil Mane.

An explosives-laden SUV was found near Ambani's house in south Mumbai on February 25 last year, and businessman Mansukh Hiren, who had claimed he was in possession of the SUV before it was stolen, was found dead in a creek in Thane some days later on March 5.