Got first eyewitness against Sachin Waze: NIA officials

The National Investigation Agency probing the Mansukh Hiran murder case has recorded the statement of a hawker who has been selling handkerchiefs outside Kalwa railway station The agency suspects arrested cop Sachin Waze bought a few hankies from this vendor before meeting Hiran on March 4The body of Hiran was found in a creek near Mumbra on March 5Sources in the NIA said CCTV footage from the location shows a person with a similar appearance as Waze buys many handkerchieves from the hawker Waze is accused of getting Hiran a car decor dealer from Thane killed Hiranrsquos SUV was found loaded with explosives near Mukesh Ambanirsquos home Antilia on February 25Sources in NIA CCTV footage from the location shows a person who looks like Waze buys many handkerchieves from the hawkerWhen Hiranrsquos body was found in a creek near Mumbra it had a monkey cap and handkerchieves in his mouth NIA suspects the pieces of cloth were purchased from the Kalwa hawkerThe NIA is painstakingly piecing together direct and circumstantial evidence to make a watertight case against Waze and the other accused said sourcesThe handkerchieves found on Mansukh Hiranrsquos bodyWaze initially tried to get off the hook by telling probe agencies that he was in Mumbai on the day of Hiranrsquos murder However the Maharashtra ATS and NIA demolished his alibi with footage of CCTVs from multiple locations The visuals show that Waze took a local train on March 4 after leaving behind his phone in the police commissionerrsquos office to show that he was at work Waze reached Kalwa station around 830 pm and most likely bought the hankies from the hawker who has now been questionedThe agency did not confirm if the hawker has identified WazeThe ATS which initially probed the murder case and arrested two more people had peserved the handkerchieves These were later sent to the Kalina Directorate Forensic Science Laboratory to check if they had any traces of chloroform or any other chemical that might have been used to render Hiran senseless before killing himSources said the forensic lab didnrsquot find traces of any chemical on the hankies ldquoChloroform is a volatile compound and as the body was inside water for several hours if any chemical was used to make the person unconscious the possibility to trace the same is very less Also it depends how the handkerchieves were preserved once they were removed from the creekrdquo said a forensic scientistSachin Waze at JJ hospital on April 8 PicSuresh KarkeraThe NIA is taking a second opinion from the Center Directorate Forensic Science Laboratory in Pune on the findings of the Kalina labThe NIA has so far arrested 5 people in the Ambani bomb scare and Hiran murder case They include API Waze PI Sunil Mane and API Riyazuddin QaziWith inputs from Diwakar Sharma