Mumbai: Dismissed police officer Sachin Waze gets bail in money laundering case

A special court here on Friday granted bail to dismissed police officer Sachin Waze in an alleged money laundering case linked to former Maharashtra minister Anil DeshmukhWaze however will not walk out of jail as he is an accused in other cases including the bomb scare incident near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis residence and the subsequent murder of Thanebased businessman Mansukh HiranThis was Wazes second application for bail under section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPC which deals with cases where an applicant is remanded in judicial custody without having been arrested earlier under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLAThe special judge for PMLA cases R N Rokade allowed Wazes bail applicationThough the Enforcement Directorate ED had named Waze as an accused he was never formally arrested in this caseWaze in his bail plea filed through advocates Sajal Yadav and Harsh Gangurde stated that he was not arrested under the PMLA and hence the rigour of the Act under which it is difficult to get bail will not be applicable to himWaze a former assistant inspector with Mumbai crime branch also cited the bail granted to Deshmukh by the Bombay High Court as a change in circumstancesIn June this year Waze had made a plea before the PMLA court to be made an approver prosecution witness and the prosecution had consented to it the application statedAlso Read Shraddha Walkar murder Delhi Police team reaches Maharashtra to probe caseWhile granting Waze bail the court noted that he had not been arrested by the EDHe cooperated with the probe and the ED did not object to his plea seeking grant of pardon in the case the court saidIt also considered the fact that Deshmukh has been granted bail by the High Court in the same courtThe court has not yet decided Wazes application for becoming an approver in the ED case But in a related case being probed by the CBI he has been allowed to turn approverThe EDs case is that while serving as the state home minister Deshmukh a Nationalist Congress Party leader collected Rs 470 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai through WazeThe money was then laundered and routed to Nagpurbased Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family the central agency claimedDeshmukh was arrested by the ED in November 2021 and is currently in jailWaze is a key accused in the Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases in which he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency NIA in March 2021 He was subsequently dismissed from serviceThis 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