Disproportionate assets case: ACB begins open inquiry against Sachin Waze

The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau has initiated an open inquiry against dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income

The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has initiated an open inquiry against dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, an official said on Friday.

The open inquiry has been started on the orders of the Director General of the ACB as the agency was informed that Waze has been dismissed from police service, he said.

The ACB officials will investigate Waze's movable and immovable assets as well as the sources of his wealth, he said.

Waze was arrested in March this year by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged role in planting an explosives-laden SUV near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in south Mumbai on February 25 and the subsequent murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of that vehicle.

During the investigation carried out by the NIA into the case, Rs 1.5 crore were found in a bank account of a firm floated by Waze, the official said.

It also came to light that Waze had allegedly given a total of around Rs 76 lakh to an aide in the recent past.

After Waze's arrest, the NIA had told a special court that it wanted to ascertain the source of this money and find out if he was extorting for himself or others.

The central investigative agency said it also wanted to find out how an officer of Waze's level could have so much money.

Two anonymous complaints of bribery and disproportionate assets were filed against Waze in the past, he said.

Waze, a 1990-batch officer of the Maharashtra cadre, who was also known as an "encounter cop", was dismissed from service last month, days after his suspension following the arrest by the NIA in the SUV-cum-murder case on March 13.

Waze, who was earlier suspended for 16 years in a case related to alleged custodial death of a bomb blast accused, was reinstated in the Mumbai police force in June 2020. Post-reinstatement, he was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the crime branch and handling high profile cases, including the fake TRP case, fake social media followers case, among others.