A special NIA court in Mumbai on Saturday (August 1, 2026) framed charges against 10 persons, including former policemen Sachin Waze and Pradeep Sharma, in connection with the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran. The accused will face trial for offences under the Indian Penal Code related to murder, extortion, destruction of evidence, and criminal conspiracy, as well as under relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act. The charges were framed by special National Investigation Agency court judge Chakor Baviskar after the accused pleaded not guilty.
Besides Waze and Sharma, the other accused in the case are Riyazuddin Kazi, Sunil Mane, Vinayak Shinde, Anand Jadhav, Satish Tirupati Mothkuri, Manish Vasantbhai Soni, Naresh Gaur, and Santosh Shelar. Kazi, Mane, and Shinde are also former police personnel. The prosecution has accused all 10 persons of forming a ‘terrorist gang’ and entering into a criminal conspiracy between February and March 2021.
An SUV containing explosives was found near billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai residence ‘Antilia’ on February 25, 2021. Businessman Mansukh Hiran, who claimed that the SUV had been stolen from his possession, was found dead in a creek in neighboring Thane on March 5, 2021. According to the NIA, the accused allegedly posted a message on Telegram channel ‘Jaishish-Ul-Hind’ containing the threat ‘Agle baar connect ho kar ayega’ (next time the bomb’s wires will be connected) to create an impression that a terrorist organization was involved in the incident.
The NIA’s draft charges identified Waze as the mastermind of the crime, whose motive was to terrorize wealthy individuals and extort money to meet a Rs 100-crore monthly target allegedly set by a high-ranking political figure. Pradeep Sharma, another former ‘encounter specialist’ officer of Mumbai Police, allegedly played a key role in the conspiracy to abduct and kill Hiran. He was involved in the procurement of SIM cards and had directed co-accused Shelar, Jadhav, Mothkuri, and Soni to dump Hiran’s body into the Thane creek.
To cover up the crime, the accused allegedly destroyed critical evidence including digital video recorders (DVRs), CCTV footage, and the victim’s mobile phone. The operation was partially funded through extortion, and the conspirators used ‘benami’ SIM cards and unregistered mobile phones to conceal their identities. The policemen among them created fake alibis by staging midnight raids and preparing ‘nil panchnamas’ to show that they were on duty away from the crime scenes.
While Sharma, Kazi, Gaur, and Mane are out on bail, Waze and the remaining five accused continue to be in judicial custody.
