Observing that there is prima facie evidence that dismissed cop Sunil Mane had identified Thane-resident Mansukh Hiran and handed him over to other co-accused who murdered him, a special court on Friday rejected his bail application in the Antilia terror scare case. Mane was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2021 on charges of being part of the conspiracy to plant explosives in a vehicle parked near Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani on February 25, 2021 and the subsequent murder of Hiran, who was linked to the vehicle, on March 5, 2021. Mane had filed bail stating that he was falsely implicated and there was no evidence that he was involved in the conspiracy to plant the gelatin sticks in the vehicle at all. Special public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves for the NIA had opposed the bail plea stating that there was proof including witness statements to show Mane's role in the case. It claimed that Mane had posed as one ‘Inspector Tawade’ to get Hiran to meet him and had then handed him over to the co-accused. Special Judge A M Patil said that prosecution has 'incriminating evidence' like statements of witnesses, call data records to frame charges against Mane. "It is also seen that Mansukh Hiran was killed because of crime dated February 25, 2021. At this juncture, the criminal act dated Feb 25, 2021 of planting explosives in Scorpio and the murder of Mansukh Hiran cannot be segregated," the court said, adding that it is a well-planned act and the criminal conspiracy was planned with intent to strike terror in the minds of common people. Mane and nine others were arrested in the case. Three including retired ACP Pradeep Sharma, dismissed assistant inspector Riyazuddin Kazi and Naresh Gaur are currently out on bail. The trial in the case is yet to begin.
