Mumbai, Oct 8: The Bombay High Court on Thursday expressed surprise over the lifestyle, including the use of high-end cars, of former Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze, who is currently in judicial custody in the 2021 Antilia bomb-scare case and Mansukh Hiran murder case, a lawyer said.

A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale also flagged Vaze’s extended stay of about 100 days in a room booked at the Oberoi hotel, asking how an officer of the rank of Assistant Police Inspector could afford to drive high-end vehicles.

The High Court said that these aspects of Vaze’s financial situation, conduct, and professional record are relevant to assessing the charges against him.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), challenging a September 29 order of a special court granting bail to Vaze.

The High Court last week granted interim stay on the bail order, resulting in Vaze remaining in judicial custody.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, representing the NIA, shared with the High Court witness statements that mentioned that Vaze used expensive and luxury vehicles while he was an Assistant Police Inspector.

During the hearing, Anil Singh read out a witness statement, which said that Vaze travelled in a black Mercedes and asked those accompanying him to turn off their mobile phones.

The court then asked whether the Mercedes belonged to Vaze and whether there was any evidence that the vehicle was registered in his name.

After the NIA responded in the affirmative, the court asked whether it was normal for an Assistant Police Inspector to own such an expensive car.

The court remarked, “Since we have not yet seen an Assistant Police Inspector driving a Mercedes…”

The court also sought information from the NIA regarding Vaze’s other vehicles and reviewed a list of five vehicles he used while serving as Assistant Police Inspector.

This list included a white BMW, a black Volvo, a white Mercedes, a white Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, and another black Mercedes.

Seeing the number of vehicles, the court said, “He (Sachin Vaze) owns five vehicles…”

The court noted that, according to statements submitted by the NIA, Vaze travelled in a high-end Mercedes to the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s office and the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s residence, ‘Varsha’.

NIA’s lawyer Anil Singh also told the court that Vaze had stayed at a seven-star hotel in South Mumbai for around 100 days.

The court asked how a police officer, earning a monthly salary of around Rs 90,000 at the time, could afford such an expensive lifestyle.

The NIA said that these vehicles owned and used by Vaze are being linked to alleged extortion in the case.

Vaze is an accused in the Antilia bomb scare case, where an SUV laden with explosives was recovered near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai residence in February 2021.

The High Court asked the NIA the reasons for opposing Vaze’s bail that was granted with stringent conditions, partly due to the fact that he has been in custody for more than five years now.

The NIA lawyer said Vaze could tamper with witnesses and destroy evidence.

“He (Vaze) was earlier charged in a fake encounter case. He was a police officer who had the duty of protecting the public. But he himself indulged in criminal activities where he not just tried to instil fear and terror but he murdered a person,” Singh said.

Mumbai: Yesterday (October 7, 2026), the ‘N’ Ward office of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation carried out a demolition drive targeting 28 structures in Ghatkopar (West) that were affected by the road-widening project between Jhunjhunwala College and the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road.

This demolition campaign was conducted under the supervision of Assistant Commissioner (‘N’ Ward) Jaydeep More.

Adequate police security was deployed alongside municipal officers and staff during the operation.

Navi Mumbai, Oct 8: Sanjay Kantu Yadav, a 38-year-old man, died in police custody in Navi Mumbai. Yadav was arrested by the Navi Mumbai International Airport Police in connection with a case. He lived in Ananta Tower in Ulwe Sector 6 and was originally from Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh. Following his arrest, a court remanded him in police custody.

According to police, Yadav was lodged in the lock-up at the NRI Sagari Police Station in Navi Mumbai on October 8. At the time, the lock-up staff noticed him clenching his fists and flexing his arms and legs. When his condition deteriorated, police officers immediately rushed him to Meenatai Thackeray Hospital in Nerul, where he was declared dead during treatment.

Police said Yadav had undergone a medical examination at Panvel Rural Hospital before his arrest. He did not report any health problems when he was produced before the court. Even during a medical examination conducted on October 6, he did not report any illness or health-related complaints.

Senior police officials have been informed about the incident. A inquest report is being conducted through videography in the presence of the Belapur First Class Judicial Magistrate, panch witnesses and the deceased man’s family members.

The body is being sent to J.J. Hospital in Mumbai for a post-mortem examination. Police said further legal proceedings are underway.

However, this is not the first such incident in Maharashtra.

Earlier, on September 22, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Maharashtra Police was investigating the death of a 35-year-old man who died while in the custody of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai.

The deceased, Imran Shaikh, had come to the city from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh in search of employment.

According to Central Railway officials, Shaikh had made enquiries about trains bound for Khandwa at the main RPF post at CSMT on September 20.

Officials said he appeared agitated and claimed that people were trying to kill him. They said Shaikh subsequently became aggressive and attacked RPF Sub-Inspector Aniket. He also inflicted injuries on himself, according to officials.