A special court on Friday extended till July 1 the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody of two accused arrested in the Ambani terror scare case. The two are historysheeter Santosh Shelar – a retired police officer and co-accused Pradeep Sharma’s former informer – and his aide Anand Jadhav. The NIA has alleged that the two were present in the red Tavera car when Thane resident Mansukh Hiran – whose car with explosives was parked outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence on February 25 – was murdered. The agency claimed on Friday that Shelar and Jadhav were on the run when the Tavera, in which Hiran was murdered on March 4, was found. The agency added that they had managed to travel to different parts of the country before their arrest earlier this month. The NIA said it wants to look further into the places the two visited and who provided them finances and shelter. The agency has also sought an extension of their custody to confront them with the other arrested accused – Sharma, Satish Tirupati Mothkuri and Manish Soni. Mothkuri and Soni were allegedly present in the Tavera and smothered Hiran to death. Their lawyer Rahul Arote on Friday opposed the NIA plea stating that the agency has received enough time to conduct a probe. Meanwhile, the special court sent dismissed inspector Sunil Mane to judicial custody till July 1. Mane’s custody was also again taken by NIA claiming that he was to be confronted with others arrested in the case.
