Suspended, Murder-Accused Mumbai Cop Sachin Vaze Sacked

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday dismissed controversial suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze - involved in the twin cases of planting a car outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's home and the murder of its owner Mansukh Hiran - from the police force.

Currently in judicial custody, API Vaze, 49, who handled some of the biggest investigations in the city, was attached as the in-charge of the Crime Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Police Crime Branch.

The dismissal orders were issued by Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale later on Tuesday evening sacking Vaze who was transferred and later arrested by the National Investigation Agency in March 13 for the two sensitive cases.

"The order was issued today under the provisions of Section 311 (2) (B) of Constitution of India by the Commissioner of Police, Greater Mumbai," a Mumbai Police statement said.

Last month, an internal enquiry by the police department pointed fingers at him on various counts, including bypassing all levels of police hierarchy and reporting directly to his ex-boss and former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

During his 9-month tenure in the CIU, Vaze handled major cases like the TRP rigging scam, the twin suicide cases of Mumbai architect Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik in which Republic TV head Arnab Goswami was nabbed.

Later came the sports car scam involving celeb automobile-designer Dilip Chhabria, the casting couch racket in the entertainment world, and the last one concerning the planting of a SUV Innova with 20 gelatin sticks near the Antilia building on Feb. 25, followed by the murder of its owner and Thane businessman Hiran whose body was found on March 5.

When he was under custody, the ex-Mumbai top cop Singh had shot off a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray claiming that the former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had allegedly asked Vaze to collect Rs.100-crire per month.

Amid a huge political row, Deshmukh quit after a Bombay High Court order for a CBI preliminary probe and a complaint lodged against him, followed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) entering the scene by lodging a case against him.