Mansukh Hiren murder solved, claims Maharashtra ATS officer

Mumbai, Mar 21: With the arrest of two persons, Maharashtra ATS on Sunday claimed that thesensational murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiren.

DIG Shivdeep Lande, in a Facebook post said, "The riddle of the very sensitive Mansukh Hiren murder has been solved. I heartily salute to all my ATS police force colleagues who worked day and night to solve this case legally."

"This case has been one of the most complex cases of my police career," said Lande, who is the DIG of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

ATS has arrested two persons, including a policeman, in connection with the alleged murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. The arrested accused were identified as Vinayak Shinde, a police personnel, and Naresh Dhare, a bookie.

Shinde is a convict in Lakhan Bhaiya fake encounter case and he come out from jail on furlough last year, he said.

Their arrest came the day the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the probe into the Hiran death case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The state ATS was investigating the case till then.

Hiran's body was found on March 5, days after an explosives-laden vehicle was found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's multi-storey residence 'Antilia' in south Mumbai on February 25.

"The state ATS has so far interrogated several people, including police officials and the family members of the deceased.

The arrest of these two persons is a major breakthrough in the case," the official said.

The NIA is also probing the explosives-laden SUV case and arrested assistant police inspector Sachin Waze.

The ATS had earlier registered a case under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) against unidentified persons in connection with Hiran's death.