SUV bomb scare case: ‘Mansukh knew Sachin Waze as a customer’, says brother

Mansukh Hiran’s shop at Vidya Bhavan on LBS Road in Thane. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Arrested encounter specialist Sachin Waze was just a customer at Mansukh Hiran's shop - Classic Car Decor - at LBS Road, Thane, according to his brother Vinod whose statement was recorded by the National Investigation Agency on Saturday night.

"Waze regularly visited Mansukh's shop to buy car accessories. We are happy with the investigation so far. The truth will come out. We don't want to say anything more now," said Vinod.

A worker at Hiran's shop who identified himself only as Shaikh said his employer lived close by. "Our owner mostly came on his bike in the morning and would leave around 9 pm. His car used to be parked outside the shop and we would move it to the garage at night. But, we had not seen it for the past four to five months. Just 4-5 days before it went missing, our boss had brought it here."

The NIA has collected records from shops that make registration number plates in Thane and Mulund. Many fake number plates had been found in Hiran's explosives-laden Scorpio found near Mukesh Ambani's home.

A source from NIA said, "On suspicion, we seized two diaries of two shopkeepers, one near Hiran's shop and another from Sarvoday Nagar in Mulund. We have also recorded their statements."

Sunil Verma, who runs Shri Art shop near Classic Car Decor, said, "I used to make one or two number plates for Mansukh bhai every day. I was shocked when I learnt his Scorpio was found near Antilla. None of the number plates found by cops was made by me. Mansukh bhai helped me a lot by giving me work during the lockdown."