CFSL Pune assists NIA in Antilia bomb scare case, suspects Waze’s ownership of 12 more vehicles

On Mar 20, 2021

A 6-member team from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Pune arrived in the city on Friday to assist the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the Ambani bomb scare case.

The CFSL will assist NIA with forensic image comparison – a technique that compares digital images extracted from video recording to determine the probability if the same person is depicted in two videos.

According to the CFSL Pune, Waze is suspected to own 12 cars, all registered in the name of three companies in which Waze is a partner or an investor. Three cars have been seized so far from Waze, including- 2 Mercedes Benz and Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.

While the CFSL Pune has been around for the last few years, it has skeletal staffing. The majority of cases, even when it came to central agencies in Maharashtra, were handed over to the Maharashtra FSL.

The FSL based in Mumbai’s Kalina is already examining the Scorpio car in which explosives were found near Ambani’s multi-storey house on February 25. The same lab is also analysing the viscera samples of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of that SUV. Hiran was found dead in a creek on March 5.

The NIA has so far seized five vehicles- the Scorpio, an Innova, two Mercedes cars and a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.

The NIA suspects that the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado – one of the five vehicles seized so far in the case — may have been used to ferry the gelatin sticks placed in the Scorpio vehicle. A forensic analysis of the vehicle will help determine if there were any traces of explosives in the vehicle and confirm if it had been used to ferry the gelatin sticks.

Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze has been arrested by the NIA in the explosives-laden SUV case. Following his arrest last Saturday, the state government has suspended him. Waze, an ‘encounter specialist’, has also been facing heat in the murder case of Hiran, which is being probed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).