Ex-cop urges NIA court to call for statement of former CP Param Bir Singh

Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma has filed an application before a special NIA court, urging it to call for the statements recorded by NIA of former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in connection to the cases of Antilia explosives scare and murder of Mansukh Hiran

Mansukh Hiran murder case

Mumbai_13 July 2013_Mumbai Police encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma reach home at Andheri after Mumbai sessions court announce the sentence in the Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya fake encounter case in which 13 policemen were convicted on July 5 while the Mumbai Police encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma was acquitted in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, July 13, 2013. (Photo by Satish Bate / Hindustan Times)

MUMBAI: Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma has filed an application before a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court, urging it to call for the statements recorded by the NIA of former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in connection to the cases of the Antilia explosives scare and subsequent murder of Thane trader, Mansukh Hiran.

In his plea, Sharma has stated that he has come to know that Singh, in his statement before the NIA, had stated that their meetings (meetings between Singh, Sharma and co-accused Sachin Waze) on February 28, 2021, and March 2, 2021, were regarding the Suresh Pujari gang and had nothing to do with Hiran’s murder.

Sharma has also mentioned the name of the then assistant police commissioner, Avinash Dharmadhikari, who too was questioned by the NIA in connection with the parking of an explosives-laden SUV near Antilia – the south Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani - and the subsequent murder of the vehicle owner, Mansukh Hiran.

Claiming that the federal agency had deliberately suppressed the statements of both Singh and Dharmadhikari, Sharma’s application stated that if the alleged conspiracy meetings had nothing to do with Hiran’s murder, then there was nothing left in the case against him.

“If this is so, the entire case of the prosecution falls to the ground,” said the application.

The statement comes in the context of the NIA’s case against Sharma alleging that he was part of the conspiracy to kill Hiran and had arranged four killers for getting the Thane trader eliminated.

In his statement to the NIA, Singh had denied any connection with the conspiracy to plant an explosives-laden vehicle near Antilia or get Hiran killed for being a weak link.

As per the prosecution case, key accused Sachin Waze had a meeting with Pradeep Sharma in which the conspiracy to murder the trader was hatched. Singh denied holding any such meetings with both Waze and Sharma and said that Sharma visited him in the office once to discuss a matter involving gangster Ravi Pujari.

“I categorically deny that Sachin Waze met me at my residence along with Pradip Sharma. Sachin Waze visited my residence few times earlier regarding briefing about the discussions which he had during his visits to CM (chief minister) and HM (home minister) in sensitive cases which he was handling,” Singh had said in his statement. “Thereafter once or twice, Pradip Sharma came to my office regarding his concerns in the Ravi Pujari matter as he could not discuss the matter at my residence,” he added.

Sharma’s advocate submitted that the prosecution had also recorded the statement of ACP Avinash Dharmadhikari. “If these two statements are recorded by the NIA, it is the duty of the prosecution to produce the same and not produce half-baked evidence,” observed the application.

According to the NIA, a Mahindra Scorpio with a bag containing 20 loose gelatin sticks and a note threatening to kill the Ambani family members was found parked near Antilia on February 25, 2021. Before the police could unravel the mystery behind the parking of the SUV at Carmichael Road in upscale Malabar Hill, Mansukh Hiran, the owner of the four-wheeler, was found dead in a creek near Mumbra on March 5.

Sharma was arrested in the case on June 17, 2021, for his alleged involvement in the murder of the Thane trader and was granted bail by the Supreme Court on August 23, 2023.