Murder Accused To Top Cop: Who Is Mumbai's Sachin Vaze & What's The Controversy Around Him?

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh announced that Sachin Vaze had been removed from his position as assistant police inspector of Mumbai¡¯s crime branch pending an investigation into the death of Mansukh Hiran.

The 48-year-old Mansukh came into the limelight after his stolen SUV, a Scorpio, was found abandoned near Antilia, the home of Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani on February 25. The Mumbai Police had found 20 gelatin sticks in the vehicle besides a purported threat letter to the Ambani family. Following which, he was under intense scrutiny of the probe agencies. Intially, reports of his suicide surfaced but now his wife has alleged that Sachin Vaze was behind his death.

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But, who is Sachin Vaze?

Sachin Vaze joined the Maharashtra Police Service as a sub-inspector in 1990. He has encountered 63 criminals so far. He had recently arrested Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami from his house. The team formed for Goswami's arrest was led by Sachin Vaze.

Sachin Vaze returned to the police force on June 6, 2020, after nearly 13 years. He resigned from the Mumbai Police in 2007. Vaze has encountered several goons of Chhota Rajan and Dawood Ibrahim. He has served under former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma.

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Vaze¡¯s chequered past

14 police personnel, including Sachin Vaze, were suspended in 2004. All of them were accused of custodial death of Khwaja Yunus, an accused in the 2002 Ghatkopar blast. He resigned from the police force in 2007, upset over the suspension.

He joined Shiv Sena in 2008 after leaving his job as Mumbai police on November 30, 2007. Sachin Vaze returned to the police force during coronavirus crisis in the state last year.

This is not the first time Vaze¡¯s name has been linked with a controversy, he¡¯s always around them. Over 15 years ago, he was chargesheeted in the 2003 custodial death of Khwaja Yunus. The charges include murder, destruction of evidence, and concealment of Yunus¡¯s body.

Resigned and reinstated

Vaze resigned from the police in 2007, but he was reinstated last year, even though the murder case is still pending trial, and Vaze and his fellow accused haven¡¯t been cleared of the charges.

Yunus was 27 when he was arrested in Maharashtra¡¯s Parbhani on December 25, 2002. He was held in connection with a bomb blast at a bus station in Ghatkopar, a suburb of Mumbai, on December 2 that had killed two people and injured 39.

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Yunus, a software engineer, was arrested by the Powai CID and was in police custody for a few days. His brother visited him in jail and said he was ¡°weak and unable to stand¡±, the Hindu reported.

On January 6, 2003, Yunus was dead. The police said he had died while trying to ¡°escape¡±, a claim that was found to be false in a subsequent investigation by the CID. An eyewitness said Yunus was tortured and assaulted in custody.