NEW DELHI: What started off as a terror probe by the Anti-Terrorism Squad after an SUV laden with gelatin sticks was found outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai has now expanded into a multi-agency investigation into an alleged terror-cum-extortion racket operated from the commercial capital of India with the alleged blessings of senior ministers and police officers.
A top source said the Enforcement Directorate is waiting for the preliminary investigation report from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to launch a money laundering probe under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against main accused Sachin Waze, a sub-inspector posted with the Crime Intelligence Unit of Mumbai police and the main suspect in the Ambani terror case.
Waze’s call records and allegations made by his superiors have shown that he was directly taking orders from Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
The probe against Waze, who is in NIA custody, is likely to be taken over by the ED to establish the money trail in the alleged terror-cum-extortion racket in which the role of some senior ministers of the Sena-NCP-Congress government is not ruled out.
On Saturday, former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh had sent a letter to the chief minister and the governor of Maharashtra stating that Deshmukh had given a target to Waze and some other senior cops for “collection” of Rs 100 crore every month.