The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a plea for bail by retired high-profile Mumbai police officer and encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, arrested in connection with the sensational Mansukh Hiran murder case.
A bench led by Justice A S Bopanna allowed his appeal against the Bombay High Court order of January 23, 2023, which rejected his bail application.
The court had earlier granted him interim bail to take care of his ailing wife and aged mother.
Sharma was arrested in the case on June 17, 2021.
An SUV laden with gelatin was found abandoned near the iconic Antilia building owned by the Ambani family on February 25, 2021. A few days later on March 5, the vehicle owner Hiran was found dead in the Thane Creek.
The National Investigation Agency, which took over the probe from Maharashtra Police, arrested Sharma in June 2021. It claimed Sharma allegedly conspired with another sacked policeman Sachin Vaze to finish off Hiran, considered a 'weak link' in the entire conspiracy to terrorise industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family.
The NIA said that Hiran was in the know of the entire plot and the accused Sharma-Vaze were worried that he would spill the beans on them, so they plotted to eliminate him.
Published 23 August 2023, 07:04 IST
