Param Bir Singh, Waze planned Antilia bomb scare, claims Nawab Malik

Pune, Nov 30: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Tuesday alleged that former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and dismissed cop Sachin Waze had planned the bomb threat near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence 'Antilia' in the state capital.

The duo had also planned the "fake" encounter of a goon by showing him as a Pakistani national with the help of a bogus passport (after the bomb scare incident), Malik claimed while talking to reporters here. The NCP leader also claimed that Singh and Waze had "misled" the state home ministry in connection with the the Antilia bomb scare case.

Asked about NCP leader Anil Deshmukh's resignation as the state home minister earlier this year, Malik termed it as "politically motivated". An explosives-laden SUV was found near Ambani's residence in south Mumbai in February this year. A few days later, businessman Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV, was found dead in a creek at Mumbra in neighbouring Thane district. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is conducting a probe into the Antilia bomb scare case.

The central agency had in March arrested Waze for his alleged role in the case. Waze, who was then serving as assistant police inspector, was later dismissed from service. Malik claimed that Singh and Waze had given wrong briefings to the state home ministry to "mislead" it in the (Antilia bomb scare) case.

"Param Bir Singh and Sachin Waze had planned the Antilia bomb threat. They had even made a fake passport with the entry and exit stamps of Pakistan for a goon. If Mansukh Hiran wasn't killed or had he surrendered, then both had planned the fake encounter of the goon, showing him as a terrorist," Malik claimed.

The NIA had found a fake passport at Waze's home, even the 'panchnama' mentioned about the passport. The NIA should put it forth before the public, the minister said. To a query that Deshmukh and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had backed Waze after the Antilia bomb scare, Malik said a minister or a CM speak on the basis of briefings from officials.

"Singh and Waze, considering their planning in the case, were briefing the home minister and the CM and based on it the latter were speaking in the legislature. Both the officers were misleading the minister," he claimed. Singh was unavailable for reaction on Malik's comments.