Sachin Vaze

Sanjay Vaze
Born	22 February 1972 Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Police career
Department	Maharashtra Police
Service years	1990 - 2021
Rank	Assitant Inspector

Sachin Vaze (born 22 February 1972) is a suspended Assistant Police Inspector of the Indian state of Maharashtra (Maharashtra Police). He is currently under custody of the National Investigation Agency for his alleged involvement in the murder of Mansukh Hiren and the 2021 Antilla Bomb Scare.

Vaze was an "encounter specialist" with the Mumbai Encounter Squad and was involved with the deaths of as many as 63 alleged criminals. He was suspended for 17 years after being arrested in the custodial death of Khwaja Yunus, but was granted bail and later reinstated in June 2020. He led the Raigad police team in the arrest of Republic TV editor-in-chief, Arnab Goswami. In March 2021, he was arrested again for his role and involvement in the aforementioned Bomb scare. Following his arrest, he was again suspended from police service.

Biography

Sachin Vaze, originally from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, joined the State Police Service in 1990 as a sub inspector. He was first posted to the naxal-affected area of Gadchiroli.

'Encounters' squad

In 1992, he was moved to Thane City Police, where he immediately gained fame for detecting several big cases. While posted at the Muslim-majority Mumbra Police Station, he was instrumental in Hindu the Muslim harmony in the area. Rising in ranks, he eventually headed the Special Squad of the Thane Police, and started carrying out encounters in the city, allegedly killing over 60 criminals in the Mumbai-Thane area.

This squad, formed around 1997 to deal with the growing extortion demands and open violence, soon came to be associated with 'encounters', a euphemism for a situation in which a gangster is cornered, asked to surrender, ostensibly attacks the police or tries to escape, and is shot dead in retaliatory action.

Vaze was subsequently selected to work at the elite Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Police, and following that, along with his mentor Pradeep Sharma, was transferred to the Anti-Extortion Cell (AE Cell) where the Cell recorded its first ever encounter.

His career spanned 30 years, during which Vaze became known for the "encounter killings" of 63 alleged criminals. These include notorious gangsters like Munna Nepali. Vaze also dealt with cases of counterfeit currency and was instrumental in dealing with cases involving film industry personalities.

In 2008, Vaze joined Shiv Sena.

Suspension and reinstatement

On 3 March 2004, Sachin Vaze was suspended along with 14 other policemen on murder charges on the custodial death of Khwaja Yunus, a suspect in the 2002 Ghatkopar bombing case. He subsequently resigned from the police in November 2007 after requests for his reinstatement were rejected by the Maharashtra Government.

On June 6, 2020 his suspension was revoked by Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray and he was reinstated by Mumbai Police due to a shortage of police staff at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Maharashtra. Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said that neither Thackeray nor the State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh were responsible for the reinstatement.

Maharashtra ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis claimed in a press meet that in 2018 when he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena asked him to reinstate Sachin Vaze which he disposed after consulting the state Advocate General.

Technology crime

Sachin Waze is also known for his techno and cyber skills. Always seen with modern gadgets and gizmos in his hands and pockets, Vaze is known to have solved many serious cyber crimes. He is also believed to have set up cellphone interception units as well as email tracking units of Mumbai Police. He came in the limelight in 1997 when he detected international credit card fraud. This was the first time when a gang of such scamsters was arrested in Asia. Which he then continued in Mumbai too in 2001. Many believe that this quality made the people against Vaze embroil him in a murder case of a terrorist. After a rising career graph, Vaze resigned in 2007.

Vaze also came out with an innovation mobile app called MobiCID. In a very short period MobiCID had been acknowledged by various sectors in media

2021 Mukesh Ambani/Antilia bomb scare case

On February 25, 2021, a Mahindra Scorpio with fake license plates filled with around 20 explosive gelatin sticks was placed outside businessman Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilia in Mumbai. The sticks were not connected and there was no detonator. There was a warning note found inside stating that this is just a trailer (introduction to an upcoming movie). Vaze was the first investigating officer in the bomb-scare case. The presumed owner of the car, Mansukh Hiren, who had filed a police complaint about the SUV being stolen, was later found dead in a creek near Thane on March 5, 2021. Three days before his death, Hiren had written a letter accusing the police of harassment. The leader of opposition of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis demanded the arrest of Sachin Vaze for the alleged murder of Hiren. Fadnavis claimed that Hiren's wife suspected that Sachin Vaze killed her husband.

Vaze applied for interim relief, which was rejected by the Sessions court in Thane. After questioning of over 12 hours, he was arrested by National Investigation Agency on March 13 for his role and involvement in placing the explosives-laden vehicle near Carmichael Road on February 25. The NIA searched his office and seized documents and electronic devices. They also seized a Mercedes vehicle that was being used by Vaze, which contained ₹5 lakh cash, a cash-counting machine and the original license plates of the Scorpio found earlier near Antilia. Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Sunil Toke claimed that Vaze has driven the seized Mercedes car into the Commissionerate of Police. An Assistant Police Inspector Riyazuddin Kazi was investigated who had removed a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) of CCTVs from the housing society in Thane where Vaze lived.As part of reconstructing the sequence of events, Vaze was made to walk near the spot where the SUV was found.

The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad in a March 21 statement named Sachin Vaze as the prime accused in Mansukh Hiran’s murder case. ATS has arrested a cricket bookie Naresh Ramniklal Ghor, and a cop Vinayak Balasaheb Shinde, who worked with Vaze for their involvement. It was Shinde who had allegedly asked Hiren to meet him at Ghodbunder Road. Shinde was a constable in the same crime branch unit where Vaze was posted, and was already serving a life sentence after being convicted in the fake encounter case of Lakhan Bhaiyya, and was out on furlough.

Vaze's supervisor, Param Bir Singh, who had worked closely with him, was removed from his post of Mumbai Police Commissioner. Singh claimed, in a detailed letter to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, that Vaze was involved in a scheme to collect ₹100 Crore from businesses in Mumbai per month as demanded by the Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. Deshmukh's office denied the claim and stated that Param Bir Singh made false allegations against him to save himself from legal action. Devendra Fadnavis claimed that Vaze and Param Bir Singh were just pawns in the hands of the current Maha Vikas Aghadi (a coalition of NCP, Shiv Sena and Indian National Congress) state government. Param Bir Singh asked the Supreme Court on March 22 for a CBI probe against Deshmukh, claiming interference by him in police investigations.

Mumbai-based newspaper Mid-day has learned from members of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) that Vaze had started collecting money from December 2020. Vaze would call from the his office inside the compound of the Commissioner of Police office to pay monthly amounts and if paid, he would ensure that Social Service Branch would not conduct any raids. It reported a source stating that "SSB carried out raids at hotels and bars and filed cases. The last SSB raid was in early February. After that, no raid was conducted as everybody agreed to pay the money to be able to operate."

Books, publications, movies

While in service Vaze was instrumental in forming new rules, manuals, directives etc for Maharashtra Police. After resigning from service Vaze participated in television debates, and published articles in newspapers and periodicals. He has also been publishing articles on Cyber Crime issues.

In the Marathi film Rege(2014) one character is inspired and named after him which is played by Pushkar Shrotri.

Vaze is author of Jinkun Harleli Ladhaai - the Marathi bestseller book on 26/11 Mumbai attacks and also source and advisor of many books projects such as Hussain Zaidi written Headley & I, My Name is Abu Salem, Byculla to Bangkok, Adrian Levy written The Siege.

Vaze has also authored a bestseller book The Scout. The book traces the journey of David Headley, son of a Pakistani aristocrat and an American mother who easily straddled both the Islamic and the western worlds. It is a tale of deception and deceit, of audacity and ingenuity and a detailed account of a man who coldly and systematically conducted a series of reconnaissance missions that perfected the deadliest terrorist attack ever on Indian soil and left some of Mumbai’s signature destinations scarred forever. He has been a researcher, advisor and contributor to various leading newspapers, tv channels as well as online portals.

Vaze has also authored Sheena Bora-the murder that shook India. The book is the first-ever comprehensive account of the gruesome murder that became a national obsession and shook us to the core.

Vaze is also the brain behind and creator of the first social networking portal in Marathi. लई भारी www.laibhaari.com is the Marathi version of Facebook. The portal put on test run on 4 November 2010 and had a membership figure of 15000+ till formally launched on 21 November 2010.