Ambani bomb scare: ‘Hiren was dead before he was thrown into creek’, say cops

Mansukh Hiren the 47yearold businessman whose Scorpio car was found outside industrialist Mukesh Ambanirsquos residence was dead before he was thrown into a creek the police revealed to his familyHirenrsquos son carries out his fatherrsquos final rites on Saturday evening PicRajeshs GuptaAccording to the police when Hirenrsquos body was retrieved his face was found covered in layers of handkerchief held together by a mask The police said doctors have reserved their opinion on the cause of deathMeanwhile the family on Saturday morning had said that they wouldnrsquot accept the body until they received the postmortem report However they accepted the body later in the evening and performed the final ritesHirenrsquos body was retrieved from Reti Bunder on Friday morning The postmortem was carried out the same evening by a team of four forensic experts from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital Kalwa The entire process was videographed and blood samples and viscera were kept for analysisOn Saturday afternoon DCP Zone 1 Avinash Ambure arrived at Hirenrsquos residence and explained the findings of the postmortem to the family Speaking with midday Hirenrsquos elder brother Vinod said ldquoWe have been told by the police that Mansukh was killed before he was thrown into the creekrdquoMobile still untraceableHiren had left his office from Thane on Friday night and his mobile was switched off after 1030 pm During investigation the police traced the mobile phonersquos last location to a village near Vasai However the police are yet to recover the mobile phone The police are still trying to find out where Hirenrsquos belongings were dumped and how his body washed ashore at Reti Bunder The crime branch is probing the matter along with the Mumbra Police The AntiTerrorist Squad officials visited Reti Bunder on Saturday morning and are yet to take the investigation papers from Mumbai and Thane policeVaze meets Mumbai CPAfter Opposition party leader Devendra Fadanavis raised questions about the involvement of Crime Intelligence Unitrsquos Assistant Police Officer Sachin Vaze the cop met Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday The meeting went on for three hours When questioned about how his name got linked with Hirenrsquos death Vaze said that the CP will be speaking about it He also denied of knowing any officer named Tawde The family had claimed that Hiren had received a call from a cop named Tawde from Kandivli Crime Branch Unit on Thursday night and he had been asked to come to Ghodbunder Road for an inquiry Hiren had gone missing soon after On February 25 an SUV was found abandoned outside Mukesh Ambanirsquos residence Antilla On further inspection officials recovered gelatin sticks and a threatening letter addressed to the Ambani family The vehicle was later linked to Hiren Incidentally the businessman had lodged a complaint with the Vikhroli police a day earlier about his vehicle going missing after he had left it on Eastern Express Highway as the steering had developed a glitch