Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday made several explosive claims in connection with the mystery SUV case. Addressing a press conference, Fadnavis said that arrested police officer Sachin Vaze was just a “small fish” in a big conspiracy, further prompting investigating agencies to probe his “political bosses”. 

49-year-old Vaze is at the focus of a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the case related to the recovery of an SUV with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in south Mumbai on February 25. Vaze, arrested in the case on March 13 for his alleged role in the crime, was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of city police’s crime branch till recently. 

Fadnavis also claimed that when he was Maharashtra chief minister, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had called him in 2018 to seek reinstatement of the then suspended police officer Sachin Vaze into the police force.

“I was Maharashtra chief minister in 2018 and also helmed the home department. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray had called me to reinstate the then suspended police officer Sachin Vaze back into the police force. Some Shiv Sena ministers later met me with the same request.”

“When I received the proposal to reinstate Vaze back into the police force, I verbally sought advocate general’s opinion about it. I was told that Waze was suspended after the Bombay High Court’s order. Therefore, I decided not to reinstate him,” Fadnavis said.

In a huge fallout of the mystery case, Param Bir Singh was removed as the Mumbai Police Commissioner on Wednesday. Hemant Nagrale has been appointed as the new police commissioner of Mumbai. 

READ MORE: Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh removed days after Sachin Vaze’s arrest in Ambani bomb scare case

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