Hitmen were paid Rs 45 lakh to kill Mansukh Hiran, NIA tells court

Mansukh Hiran

During a custody hearing at the special NIA court on Thursday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that they suspect around Rs 45 lakh was exchanged for the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. The agency based this claim on crucial links of monetary transactions. The agency also said that the accused who committed the murder in the red Tavera car fled to Nepal after the killing.

An NIA source also said that they have found CCTV footage where Hiran's killers are seen with him at Ghodbunder Road on March 4.

The red car in which Hiran was allegedly murdered. File pic

On Thursday, accused Satish Tirupati Mutkori and Manish Basant Soni were produced before the special NIA court and the agency sought further five days custody for both. NIA based its demand for further custody on the discovery of the financial transactions worth Rs 45 lakh, suspected to have been used for or paid for Hiran's murder. However, the agency did not say who funded the murder. It said that there might be a few more people involved in both cases.

It was Hiran's car that was found laden with explosive material outside Mukesh Ambani's residence, Antilia. Hiran had allegedly refused to follow Waze's instructions after the car was discovered.

Tip of the iceberg

The NIA claimed that the Rs 45 lakh is the tip of the iceberg and they suspect that crores of rupees were involved in both, the Antilia case and Hiran's murder case.

The public prosecutor said during the hearing that they have recovered Rs 35,000 in cash from one of the accused who allegedly committed Hiran's murder on the instructions of dismissed API Sachin Waze and former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma.

When the court pointed out that the amount is not too huge, the public prosecutor responded that there are murder cases involving much lesser amounts and that they want to find from where the accused got the money.

The NIA also said that Sharma, who is now in judicial custody and is lodged at Taloja jail, provided bogus SIM cards to Hiran's killers. The SIM cards were allegedly used for coordination during the conspiracy.

So far, the agency has said the Sharma and Waze are the brains behind the cases, with the involvement of more people suspected. The allegations against Sharma are that he coordinated the whole conspiracy and gave directions. Earlier, the agency had determined that Waze procured SIM cards with the help of a Gujarat-based bookie, Naresh Gor, who was arrested by the Maharashtra ATS and later handed over to the NIA.

The four accused who allegedly murdered Hiran are, Santosh Shelar, Anand Jadhav, Manish Basant Soni and Satish Tirupati Mutkor.

The agency is probing into the details of their travel to Nepal after the murder. NIA suspects that the four were instructed by Waze and Sharma to stay underground till the investigation is completed.

During the past four months, an NIA source said they have found crucial evidence - CCTV footage from Ghodbunder road where Sharma's close aid, Shelar, is seen standing near the red Tavera car, Mansukh being brought to the spot in another car and being handed over to Shelar.

In the CCTV footage, Shelar can also be seen tapping Hiran's back and getting him to enter the Tavera. The NIA suspects that three other accused were present inside the car. The NIA had earlier said that Waze and dismissed PI Sunil Mane had brought Hiran in a white Volkswagen car to Ghodbunder.

Rs 35k
Cash recovered from one of the accused