Sunil Mane was in charge of Unit 11 of the Mumbai Police crime branch, and was under the cloud of suspicion since March 13, when controversial Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze was arrested in the case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one more Mumbai Police officer in connection with the Antilia bomb scare and Thane trader Mansukh Hiran’s murder case.
An NIA officer said they had called in police inspector Sunil Mane for interrogation in connection with the cases and placed him under arrest late Thursday night. Mane will be produced before the special NIA court for remand on Friday.
Mane, a 1995-batch Maharashtra police service officer, was in-charge of Unit 11 of the Mumbai Police crime branch in Kandivli. NIA officials said he was under the cloud of suspicion since March 13, when controversial Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze was arrested in the case, so much so that the team had inspected several official vehicles assigned to the Unit 11.
Hiran went missing after he stepped out at about 8.30pm on March 4. The next day, his body was found dumped in a creek at Reti Bunder near Mumbra with six handkerchiefs stuffed in his mouth and his face covered with a scarf.
NIA suspected Mane was involved in the murder. Sources said he was present at the Criminal Intelligence Unit, which was then headed by Vaze, along with one more police officer on March 3, when the plan to eliminate Hiran, linked to the explosive-laden Mahindra Scorpio found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence on February 25, was allegedly hatched.
NIA, which is investigating both the cases, has so far arrested Vaze, his former colleague at CIU, assistant police inspector Riyazuddin Kazi, former policeman Vinayak Shinde and cricket bookie Naresh Ramniklal Gor.