Nariman Point 5-Star Hotel Room Mumbai Cop's Extortion Racket Hub, NIA Probe Shows

The NIA has questioned several police officers in connection with Sachin Waze's affairs. Some of them could possibly be arrested in the near future.

Arrested Mumbai cop Sachin Waze was running his alleged extortion racket from a room in a Nariman Point five-star hotel booked for him for 100 days at a cost of Rs 12 lakh by a businessman, the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) probe has revealed. The policeman had used a fake identity to check into the property, it shows. The probe body, looking into the recent bomb threat against industrialist Mukesh Ambani, has also questioned several police officers in connection with their now-suspended colleague's affairs. Some of them could possibly be arrested in the near future, NIA officials have said.The probe shows that Mr Waze, a shootout specialist, was operating out of room number 1964 of the hotel, which he checked into using a forged Aadhaar card and the fictitious name Sushant Sadashiv Khamkar. "A businessman had booked this hotel for 100 days and for Rs 12 lakh. Waze was helping this businessman in some dispute," a senior NIA official claimed. The booking was done through a travel agent, the officer said, adding that the suspended cop had stayed there in February while reporting for duty at the Crime Branch. Mr Waze allegedly entered the hotel in an Innova on February 16 and left on February 20 in a Land Cruiser -- both vehicles were later seized by NIA. "The dates also coincide with those when he and his team members were raiding various establishments in Mumbai at night for licence violations," explained a senior NIA official. The agency, probing the Ambani threat, arrested the policeman on March 13 for his alleged role in planting an explosive-laden vehicle near the Reliance Industries chief's residence on south Mumbai's Carmichael Road. It is also probing the mysterious death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran, to whom the SUV found near Antilia was traced back. Mr Waze, who initially probed the bomb-threat case, is now a prime suspect in Mr Hiran's case, too.