Vaze case: NIA seizes documents suggesting month-wise 'bribes' paid to 'govt officials'

The ongoing probe into the security scare outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house and the alleged murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren has led the NIA to documents that show some payments, suspected to be bribe money, being made to officials in the Mumbai Police and the administration, officials said here.

They said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is scrutinising the documents unearthed during a raid Thursday on a club at Girgaum in South Mumbai to probe further the role of now-suspended police officer Sachin Vaze, who is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency till April 7.

One of the documents shows the name of the office as well as officers by designation and there was an amount mentioned against their names, and the same had been tabulated month-wise, the officials said.

The officials suspect that the amounts mentioned against office and officers could be the bribe money paid every month.

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Before sharing further details, the NIA is likely to seek an explanation from the club-owner and others about the documents.

The officials said that if needed the documents would be shared with Income Tax or CBI authorities for further probe as the NIA is mandated to probe anti-terror cases only.

They said the club was frequented by Vaze who had even got Naresh Gor and co-accused Vinayak Shinde employed there. Both of them are in the NIA custody at present.

The NIA had Thursday also recovered documents pertaining to SIM cards procured through Gor for his personal use. Gor is alleged to have procured the SIM cards from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and these were handed over to Vaze through Shinde, the officials said.

One of these SIM cards was used by Vaze to give a call to Hiren, which turned out to be the last call before the businessman was killed.

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The body of Hiren, who was in possession of the SUV used in the security scare incident, was found in a creek in the Mumbra town of the neighbouring Thane district on March 5.

Hiren was allegedly killed by Vaze after reports started surfacing that the case may be handed over to the central agency for probe. Initial investigations suggested that Hiran was called to a place where he was made unconscious with the help of some drugs before being smothered to death.

His vehicle was found outside Ambani's house in Mumbai on February 25 with gelatin sticks and a threat note.

The NIA has said in the court that Vaze had taken the car from Hiren before allegedly planting the explosives and parking it outside Ambani's house on February 25.

Vaze was arrested on March 15 by the NIA and is at present in the custody of the agency till April 7.

The Maharashtra ATS, which was initially probing the Hiren murder case, had arrested Gor and Shinde. This case was also taken over by the NIA and the duo are in the custody of the agency till April 10.