Mumbai: National Investigation Agency (NIA) has dropped former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh as a prosecution witness in the Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases, according to a list of “unrelied statements and documents” filed before the special trial court.Singh’s statement is among 29 “unrelied statements”, while the 34 unrelied documents include material linked to a gait analysis test conducted on dismissed police officer and accused Sachin Waze.NIA said, in its Sept 24 response, that the court had directed it to provide accused persons with a list of documents it would not rely on. The filing indicates NIA does not presently intend to use Singh’s statements or the gait-test document as evidence to prove charges at trial.NIA alleged that Waze orchestrated the plot to extort wealthy people and project himself as a “super cop” after returning from suspension. According to the agency, Waze used an SUV owned by Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, fabricated theft proceedings and planted gelatin sticks and a threat note in the vehicle which was parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia on Feb 25, 2021. NIA alleged that Hiran was murdered on March 4, 2021, because he knew of the conspiracy and could expose it.Waze and nine others, including dismissed police officers Sunil Mane and Pradeep Sharma, face charges under the IPC and the UAPA.Bombay High Court, while rejecting Mane’s bail plea in 2024, had referred to statements recorded from Singh by NIA on Aug 29 and 30, 2022. Mane was subsequently granted bail by Supreme Court.The HC order recorded that the prosecution tendered Singh’s statements. “It is to be noted that the defence has not been provided with the said statements and the same cannot be and will not be used against the appellant, save and except, to unearth the well planned larger conspiracy hatched by the accused,” the prosecution had submitted before the HC.The order further noted that 42 questions were put to Singh during the investigation. The order said Singh was Mumbai police commissioner from Feb 29, 2020, to March 17, 2021, and that Waze, after reinstatement from suspension, had been posted to Crime Intelligence Unit of Crime Branch.Hiran’s widow, Vimla, had alleged foul play in a complaint before ATS Thane unit, claimed her husband had been murdered and named Waze. In his statement, Singh said he subsequently became aware of her complaint, but was not aware of any connection between Hiran and Waze.He also denied instructing Waze to convince Hiran to take responsibility for parking the explosives-laden Scorpio near Ambani’s residence. When asked whether Hiran was eliminated after refusing to take responsibility and being considered a weak link, Singh denied knowledge.The order recorded, “When a specific question was asked to Singh that during investigation…Waze had stated that he (Singh) was the part of the conspiracy in planting of gelatin sticks in the Mahindra Scorpio SUV, along with a threat note addressed to the Ambani family, he denied having aware of any such conspiracy and that he was not part of the same.”The HC order also reproduced Singh’s denial of allegations that conspiracy meetings took place at his office or residence. Singh stated, “No such conspiracy meetings happened at my office or residence. I categorically deny that I have given instructions to Waze, Sharma or Mane to murder Hiran.”On another suggestion that Mane had met Singh, along with Waze, on March 4, 2021, and again after Hiran’s death, Singh’s response recorded in the order was: “I categorically deny that any such meeting and any such conversation took place.”The order also referred to questions about alleged technical evidence of meetings. Singh had stated, “There cannot be any technical evidence whatsoever to show that the accused were present together in my office chamber or my official apartment, since no such meetings happened.”Singh was also questioned about an Apple ID and alleged communication with the accused after the vehicle used in the murder was recovered. Singh denied ownership of the ID and stated: “As explained above the apple ID does not belong to me.”NIA had recorded Singh’s statements as part of its probe. One of the witnesses, a cyber expert, in his statement had mentioned an attempt by Singh to show the explosives planting as part of a terror threat, which reportedly had its origin in Tihar jail. According to the witness, Singh offered him Rs 5 lakh to make a report on these lines.The cyber expert had further said that he was asked to mention that Jaish-ul-Hind used Telegram, a messaging platform, to communicate in the explosives case and the blast that took place near the Israel embassy in Delhi in Jan 2021. The special cell of Delhi Police, probing the terror threat, had found that the Telegram channel used to claim responsibility for planting of explosives was created from inside Tihar jail. NIA also found that Singh had spoken to some of the arrested accused using a FaceTime ID ‘Balaji Kurkure’ in April after he was transferred to Home Guards.During the probe, Waze was handcuffed and subjected to two walking-pattern analysis exercises. One was conducted at Carmichael Road near Antilia and the other at Kalwa railway station. The tests were meant to compare Waze’s gait with CCTV footage.The defence had disputed the evidentiary value of the gait test report, arguing that they only indicated similarity. “Similarity is subjective. Doesn’t mean it’s the same and doesn’t conclusively indicate Waze’s presence at the spot,” the defence had submitted.Waze was granted bail by the special NIA court on Tuesday. However, HC stayed the bail the next day, issued notice to Waze and posted the matter for hearing on Oct 7.
