At Mithi River search, NIA recovered Sachin Waze’s laptop, printer and CPUs, DVRs that he took from shopkeepers to destroy CCTV footage, but water damage may be too great, experts say
NIA’s search operation at Mithi River on Sunday
Evidence recovered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Mithi River in the presence of suspended API Sachin Waze is expected to play an important role in the probes of the explosives-laden Scorpio found outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence and of Mansukh Hiran’s murder. But forensic experts believe that the chances of recovery from water-damaged equipment are just five to 10 per cent.
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“Most of the time we get damaged samples from agencies for the purpose of recovery where the chances are 40 per cent. But in rare cases, whenever we receive samples of water-damaged materials, the chances of retrieval and recovery are just five to 10 per cent with the help of latest technology,” an expert from the Maharashtra Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) told mid-day.
The NIA, which took Waze near Mithi river at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Sunday, called multiple divers after he mentioned that some evidence was destroyed there. During a more than three-hour search operation, divers were able to fish out some crucial pieces of evidence, including two CPUs, one laptop, two hard disk, a cartridge and a printer were found inside the river. “The laptop and printer belong to Waze and the same have been identified by him. The other electronics such as DVR, CPU and hard disk belong to different people. Waze and his associates took those from different people to destroy evidence,” a senior NIA officer told mid-day.
The CPU and the DVRs were taken from different shops by Waze and his associates apparently for some investigation but had been destroyed on the same day because they actually caught them on CCTV camera. “We called many shopkeepers and identified those from whom the CPUs and DVRs were taken on the pretext of an investigation,” the officer added.
The agency is hoping to get evidence from the laptop. “The chances of recovery from a water-damaged laptop is 40 per cent if the hard disk is not broken fully. It appears that the screen and the keyboard were damaged using a hammer,” a forensic expert said.
“A difficulty may arise if the contents of the laptop were erased before destroying and dumping it,” the expert added. The divers also found two number plates with the same number. It was found that the number is registered in the name of an Aurangabad resident who had filed a theft case in November 2020.
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