Antilia bomb scare

The Antilia bomb scare also known as Vazegate was caused on February 25, 2021, when a car containing 20 explosive gelatin sticks was found outside Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilia in Mumbai.
A note found inside the vehicle addressing Mukesh and wife Nita Ambani, said that this was just a trailer, and threatened of more to come.
The vehicle was traced to Mansukh Hiren, a car decor shop owner from Thane, who had reported it stolen a week prior. The case took a turn when within a week of investigations, Hiren was found dead in a creek in Mumbai. Sachin Vaze, a Mumbai Police officer who was known to Hiren, and was previously using the vehicle, was arrested for his involvement in placing the explosive-laden vehicle. As a fallout, Commissioner of Police Mumbai, Param Bir Singh to whom Vaze was reporting directly, was transferred out of his post. Singh wrote a letter to the Chief Minister alleging that Vaze was extorting at the behest of the Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Deshmukh resigned his post after the Bombay High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to inquire into the allegations of the letter.
Threat.
An SUV, a green coloured Scorpio, was parked about 400 metres from Antilia on February 25, 2021 at around 2 am. As it was a No Parking zone, the traffic police attached a clamp to it in the morning, and generated an electronic fine receipt.
The police were alerted by a call from the security manager of Antilia.
The vehicle had a fake number plate and the chassis and engine number were scratched.
The gelatin sticks, weighing 2.5kg, found in the vehicle were not assembled, and there was no detonator or battery. They were commercial-grade and not military-grade explosives, but had enough capacity to blow up the car, and impact a radius of 350 metres.
Several other number plates were found in the car some of which matched vehicles in the security team of the Ambanis, and one identical to the car used by Nita Ambani.
A letter was found next to the driver's seat in a bag with the Mumbai Indians logo. The printed letter addressed to Mukesh and Nita Ambani, said that this was just a trailer, and arrangements have been made for a severe result for the next time. The language used was Hindi with a mix of English, with several visible spelling mistakes.
A lesser-known terror outfit the Jaish-Ul-Hind denied responsibility after a post in its name on Telegram claiming responsibility for parking the vehicle, and seeking a ransom at the address of cryptocurrency, Monero.
Death of Mansukh Hiren.
The presumed owner of the car, Mansukh Hiren, who had filed a police complaint about the vehicle being stolen, was later found dead. The body, which was found floating in the Kalwa creek on the morning of March 5, had a face mask on with 5 handkerchiefs rolled and kept behind the mask.
His belongings like phone, gold chain, wallet were not found.
The same day, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis said he had the phone call records showing that Assistant Police Inspector (API) Sachin Vaze of the Mumbai Police, who was the Investigating Officer of the Antilia bomb scare case till the previous day, had been in touch with Hiren in June and July 2020, prior to the bomb scare case. Fadnavis termed this as suspicious and requested for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe. Later the same day, both the Hiren death case and the bomb scare case were transferred to the ATS of Mumbai Police.
The post-mortem was conducted at Hirenat Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj hospital in Kalwa. It did not specify the cause of death, but reported multiple abrasions that occurred before death.
A diatom test suggested that Hiren was alive when falling into the creek.
An accidental death report was filed at Mumbra police station. The Hiren death case was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Squad on the basis of an order issued by the Maharashtra Home Department.
As per the family members of Hiren, he was called to the Mumbai CP office almost everyday with regards to the Scorpio case, and was asked the same questions. He had submitted a complaint to the Mumbai and Thane police commissioners, about harassment by the police. They said that he was in his car decor shop in Thane when he got a call around 8 pm. The caller identified himself as Tawde, posing as an investigator in the bomb scare case. Hiren told his son that he was going to Ghodbunder area in Thane to meet a Crime Branch official from Kandivali unit. His phone was switched off since 10.30 pm. When he was not reachable by the next morning, his family filled a missing report at the Naupada police station.
Following the recovery of his body, his wfe filed a FIR where she said that she suspected Sachin Vaze of killing her husband. In her complaint, she mentioned the dates when Hiren and Vaze had met. She said that it was Vaze who had advised Hiren of submitting a complaint of harassment by the police and media to the Chief Minister. Vaze had also asked him to get himself arrested, and Hiren had spoken to a lawyer for anticipatory bail.
After his name came up in connection with the death case, Vaze was transferred on March 10 out of the Mumbai Crime Branch to the Citizen Facilitation Centre at Mumbai Police Headquarters, while the bomb scare case was transferred to ACP Nitin Alakhnure. 
In a March 21 statement, the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism squad named Vaze as the prime suspect in Mansukh Hiren’s death. Earlier on March 13, after over 12 hours of questioning, Vaze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency for his involvement in placing the explosives-laden vehicle near Antilia.
Extortion allegation.
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 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 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."
Investigation.
The Mumbai Police formed over 10 teams to investigate the bomb scare case. Officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch investigated details of the vehicle to identify the owner, and scanned the CCTVs in the area. Anti-Terrorism Squad officials investigated for any terror angle. The person sitting in the Scorpio could not be identified as he was wearing a mask.
CCTV footages showed a white coloured Toyota Innova following the Scorpio from Thane till Carmichael Road. Analysis of hundreds of CCTV footages along the route of the two cars showed them driving separately, crossing the Mulund toll post, until they met up at Priyadarshini Junction in Kurla, and then proceeding towards Byculla. The vehicles turned right at Khada Parsi junction and proceeded to Carmichael Road. The driver of the Scorpio parked it at 2.18 am at the spot near Antilia where it was last seen, and left in the Innova. The Innova, which also had a fake registration number, was seen exiting Mumbai and entering Thane, after which its trail was lost.
Following a post on Telegram from a terror outfit the Jaish-Ul-Hind claiming responsibility, the police took help of a private agency to track the mobile phone from which the message was sent. When the agency claimed the phone was operated in or close to Tihar Jail, the Delhi Police special cell seized a phone and interrogated a terrorist from the now-dormant Indian Mujahedeen lodged in the jail. The Mumbai Police checked the address of the cryptocurrency Monero, which was provided in the message, and found it did not exist.
Later, the Jaish-Ul-Hind denied responsibility for the post, and said it was a fake message.
The gelatin sticks were manufactured by Solar Industries, a Nagpur-based company, however they informed the police that they had no system to find who the buyer was.
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Mumbai's Kalina, conducted a forensic analysis and found ammonium nitrate in the sticks, and concluded that the explosive was capable of only a low-intensity blast, and could not cause any big damage.
Handlers of the SUV.
Police found that the Scorpio had a number plate of a registration under Reliance Industries. However the actual vehicle with that number belonged to the Jaguar Land Rover model. 
As the chassis and engine number were scratched, police contacted the finance company Wadhwa Motors Cars & Finance, whose name and number were written on the rear glass of the vehicle. The real registration number was found to be MH02 AY 2815, and registered at Thane RTO in 2007 by Sam Peter Newton. Newton led them to Mansukh Hiren, who identified the vehicle through its seat covers and a Ganesha idol. As per Hiren's statements to the Crime Branch, Newton, whom he knew since 2016, had brought the vehicle to his car decor shop in order to get it fitted with some accessories. When Newton was not able to pay the bill, he allowed Hiren to use the car until the payment was made. Hiren had handed over the vehicle to Sachin Vaze, who was his regular client, who used it for 4 months from November 2020. On February 5, 2021, Vaze returned the vehicle with a complaint of a stiff steering wheel.
The car was in Hiren's possession until February 16, when he parked it on the Eastern Express Highway after the steering wheel became jammed. When he went to pick it up the next day, the car was missing. He filed a complaint in the Vikhroli Police Station in which he mentioned that the car belonged to his friend Dr. Sam Newton. The Vikhroli police were not able to trace it during the time. Hiren claimed that he had recently used it on only four to five occasions because he wanted to sell it.
On investigating the vehicle when it was found near Antilia, there were no marks indicating forced entry of doors, and the police suspected that the vehicle may have been stolen using a duplicate key.
The ATS revealed based on CCTV footage from near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, that after parking the car, Hiren met Vaze for 10 minutes. The NIA revealed that the car was later picked up on Vaze's instruction by his personal driver from where Hiren had parked it. The driver then parked it in Vaze's residence in Thane. On February 19, the driver drove the vehicle to the police headquarters, and brought it back to Vaze's residence the following day, where it remained until February 24, when the driver made the journey to Antilia.
Following Vaze's arrest, the NIA searched his office and seized documents, electronic devices, and 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 drove 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 where Vaze lived in Thane.As part of reconstructing the sequence of events, Vaze was made to walk near the spot where the SUV was found.
Mansukh Hiren death.
After the investigation into the death was transferred to the ATS, they collected all documents from Mumbra Police Station. On March 7, ATS registered a case of murder on the complaint of Hiren's wife.
Two mobile phones of Hiren were switched on and off 30 minutes and 10km apart. One was at Vasai-Virar, and the other at Tungareshwar. The police suspected that the killers may have done this to create false location indicators for Hiren. The phones were switched off since 10.30pm.
In a March 21 statement, the Maharashtra Anti-terrorism squad named Vaze as the prime suspect in Mansukh Hiren’s death.
Police officer Vinayak Balasaheb Shinde, who worked with Vaze, had allegedly asked Hiren to meet him at Ghodbunder Road.
Arrests.
On March 13, after over 12 hours of questioning, Vaze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency for his involvement in placing the explosives-laden vehicle near Antilia.
On March 21, the ATS arrested cricket bookie Naresh Ramniklal Gor and police officer Vinayak Balasaheb Shinde, who worked with Vaze, for their involvement in Mansukh Hiren's murder. 
As per the ATS, Shinde had posed as Tawde and called Hiren to meet him at Ghodbunder Road on the day Hiren went missing. Another ATS team apprehended a man from Gujarat who supplied SIM cards obtained on the basis of bogus documents to Gor, who in turn provided five SIM cards to Vaze and Shinde.
On April 11, NIA arrested Riyazuddin Kazi, who assisted Vaze in the Antilia bomb case as well as destruction of evidence in the Hiren murder case.