In a significant revelation in the fast-unfolding Vaze Gate drama, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale has told to the Maharashtra Home Department that suspended police officer Sachin Vaze was directly reporting to his predecessor Param Bir Singh from the time he was reinstated into the police force on June 10 last year and till he was suspended on March 13.

In a report submitted to the State Home department, Nagrale also stated that Vaze was posted as the in-charge of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai police as per the orders of former Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.

“API Sachin Vaze never reported to any officer of the Crime Branch during his tenure of nine months from 10/06/2020 to 12/03/2020. No officers of the Crime branch gaver any review/opinion/direction in the investigation handled by Sachin Vaze because he directly reported to the then Commissioner of Police,” the report stated.

The report stated that on completion of “suspension period”, Vaze was reinstated and posted in armed police forces on 8 June, 2020.

“As per oral orders of the then commissioner of police, the then joint commissioner of police (crime) transferred police inspector Vinay Gorphade and Sudhakar Deshmukh to Unit 10 and Unit 1, respectively and Vaze was posted in-charge of CIU,” the report stated.

 “As per information given on telephone, the then joint commissioner of police (crime) has strongly opposed the posting of Vaze. However, at the insistence of the commissioner of police, the then joint commissioner of police (crime) unwillingly issued the office order for posting of Vaze in CIU,” the report said.

“Vaze has not followed the rules and he directly and independently reported to the then CoP (Singh) and he investigated under his guidance… was following the guidelines of (Singh) about raid on illegal activities, whom to arrest or not, to call whom as witness and accused of sensitive crimes,” stated the report.

Vaze, who jumped on his own into the investigations involving the recovery of explosive laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s skyscraper mansion in south Mumbai on February 25, also took up points of the CIU in remands, bail, anticipatory bail pleas and other critical decisions, and if he required manpower for various investigations, it was given as per Singh’s directions.

As the in-charge of CIU, Vaze handled sensational cases like TRP rigging scam, the Anvay Naik suicide case and the death of her mother Kumud Naik, in which he arrested TV anchor-editor Arnab Goswami, sports car scam involving Dilip Chhabria and Bollywood-TV-entertainment industry’s casting couch racket. He also recently recorded the statement of Hrithik Roshan in the email controversy that broke out between him and actress Kangana Ranaut in 2016.

The report also stated that as the in-charge of CIU, Vaze was given a Tata Sumo, an Innova and a Scorpio for his official purposes, but he was found to be using mainly “high-end luxury cars like Mercedes Benz, Audi, etc. and other private vehicle to reach the office other than these three government vehicles”.

Vaze, who was arrested on March 13 in connection with the gelatine sticks laden Scorpion recovery case, was earlier booked under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 465 (forgery) 473  (making or possessing counterfeit seal) and 506 -2 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 4 (a)(b)(i) of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908.

Vaze, who was the first accused to have been arrested by the NIA which registered an FIR in the explosive-laden SUV recovery case on March 8, was subsequently booked under sections 16 (Punishment for Terror act) and 18 (Punishment for conspiracy etc) of the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

It may be recalled that the police had recovered 20 gelatin sticks and a letter were recovered from what was later described as Mahindra Scorpio that was found abandoned in the vicinity of Mukesh Ambani’s 27-storey residence “Antilia” on Carmichael Road in south Mumbai on February 25.

On March 24, Thane court a Thane city court asked the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police to stop investigations into the alleged murder of SUV recovery case-linked businessman Mansukh Hiran and hand over the case to the NIA.