Antilia bomb scare case: SC reserves order on bail plea of ex-cop Pradeep Sharma

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the bail plea of former Mumbai Police officer Pradeep Sharma who was arrested in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case and the killing of businessman Mansukh HiranOn February 25 2021 an explosivesladen SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis residence Antilia in south Mumbai Businessman Hiran who was in possession of the SUV was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5 2021Sharmas counsel said the only allegation against him was that he had helped his former colleague Sachin Waze in eliminating HiranSharma along with police officers Daya Nayak Vijay Salaskar and Ravindranath Angre was a member of the Mumbai Polices encounter squad that killed over 300 criminals in numerous encounters Salaskar had died during the 2611 Mumbai terror attackDismissed police officer Sachin Waze is the main accused in the Antilia bomb planting case and the killing of HiranA bench of Justices A S Bopanna and P S Narasimha heard the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Sharma and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju who represented the National Investigation Agency NIA which is probing the caseRohatgi submitted Sharma was a decorated police officer who retired after 37 years of serviceWaze wanted to have some recognition and be in spotlight They wanted to plant an explosive outside the house of an industrialist in Mumbai so he procured gelatin sticks The deceased is Mansukh HiranIn conjunction with Hiran he got his car and showed it as a stolen car put gelatin sticks and parked it outside the industrialists house This was done with an intention that he will recover the car and he will be in spotlight that he has discovered an attack The high court records this I Sharma am unconcerned with all this Rohatgi saidHe said there was no direct evidence to link Sharma to Sachin WazeI am a retired police officer I met Waze at Malabar Hill police station He called me and is known to me Second time I met him at police commissioners office Is it possible to hatch a conspiracy to murder someone at police commissioners office Rohatgi submittedRaju said the only allegation against Sharma is that he is a coconspirator in the murder of HiranSharma met Waze but what was discussed in the meeting is not coming forth he saidOn July 24 the top court had extended by two weeks the interim bail to Sharma in view of his wifes surgeryIf the surgery does not happen within this period the petitioner Pradeep Sharma will have to surrender after two weeks There will not be any more extensions of interim bail the bench had told Rohatgi at the last hearingThe bench said after Sharmas surrender the court will take up his plea for regular bailSharma was arrested in the case in June 2021This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever