Former encounter cop Pradeep Sharma denied bail in Antilia bomb scare case

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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