The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant bail to
former policeman Pradeep Sharma, who is arrested in connection with the Antilia
bomb scare case and for the killing of businessman Mansukh Hiran.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and R N Laddha
said it was dismissing Sharma's appeal challenging a special court order
rejecting his bail plea.
Sharma had approached the high court last year challenging a
February 2022 order of a special NIA court rejecting his bail plea.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has alleged that Sharma
had helped his former colleague Sachin Waze to eliminate Hiran.
On February 25, 2021, an explosives-laden SUV was found near
industrialist Mukesh Ambani's 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 last year.
Sharma was arrested in the case in June 2021 and is presently in
judicial custody.
While the former policeman claimed there was no evidence against
him, the NIA has alleged that he was a main conspirator in the "cold
blooded murder" of Hiran, who was considered a weak link in the larger
conspiracy of terrorising the Ambani family.
"Pradeep Sharma was an active member of a gang that had
conspired to terrorise people, including the Ambani family, and murdered
Mansukh Hiran as he was a weak link in the conspiracy," the NIA had said.
The probe agency claimed that Hiran was aware of the whole
conspiracy (parking of explosive laden vehicle outside Antilia) and the accused
(Sharma and Waze) apprehended that he (Hiran) would "spill the
beans", which would then make it difficult for Sharma and Waze to continue
to "yield the fruits" of the larger conspiracy.
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