SUV bomb scare case: This footage led NIA to arrest API Sachin Waze

The Innova with its original number plate. It has been seized by the NIA

CCTV camera footage pointing to the misuse of an official police vehicle allegedly to plant the explosives-laden Scorpio near Antilia on Peddar Road in February is what led to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) moving to arrest Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze of Mumbai police. The Innova car, in which the person who parked the Scorpio left, was seen exiting the Commissioner of Police's (CP) office at Crawford Market on February 24 at 11:46 am.

The Innova seen outside the CP office before entering it on Feb 24

It had a fake number plate and initials MH 10 AZ. The same car was again seen exiting the CP office on March 13 allegedly with the fake number plate.

The same car crossed Mulund toll naka and reached Thane where the fake number plate was changed and reached Peddar Road near Antilia, all the while shadowing the Scorpio car on February 25.

After the Scorpio was planted near Antilia, the Innova returned to Thane where the number plate - the one used on February 24 - was fixed on the vehicle. The car again reached Antilia around 4.30 am where a man wearing a PPE suit was seen coming out of the vehicle and walking on Peddar Road. The number plate at this time was the same as the one when the car had entered and exited the CP office on February 24.

The Scorpio car that was planted outside Antilia on Feb 25. File pic

NIA officials learnt that fake number plates were used on an official police vehicle allotted to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU). "There is plenty of evidence to get Waze convicted in the case. The frequent use of fake number plates official vehicles to commit the serious offence is a piece of crucial evidence," said an NIA officer privy to the investigation.

There was a dent on the bumper of the Innova involved in the planting of the Scorpio. The investigating team noticed the dent just below the number plate of Innova. The dent had been covered with plastic.

The NIA believes that the CIU's Innova and the one used to plant the Scorpio are the same car. When the case started to take sudden twists and the NIA took over the investigation, the CIU's Innova was sent to the Motor Transport (MT) department of Mumbai police for maintenance.

Additional Commissioner of Police, motor transport, Atul Patil said, "The vehicle was sent to MT department for routine maintenance on Friday. There was some work related to its suspension but it was seized by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before it could be repaired."

The CIU's Innova was recently sent to the MT department of Mumbai police for maintenance work

When asked if there was a dent on its bumper and if it has been repaired at the workshop, Patil said, "I am not sure if there was a dent below the rear number plate."

NIA sources said that the fake number plates were made at a shop in eastern Mumbai. The NIA team has seized a register from the shop and recorded the statement of the shop owner.

Sources added than an officer associated with Waze is suspected to have visited the shop. The officer is under the NIA's scanner.

Sources told mid-day that when the car was seized from the MT department, the word ‘police' was mentioned on its read.

However, the agency believes that the word was painted recently to evade investigating agencies when Waze became a suspect.

Feb 24
Day the Innova was seen entering and exiting the Commissioner of Police office

Feb 25
Day the car was seen outside Antilia while the Scorpio was being planted