Antilia plot: Police, NIA, ATS launch manhunt
Cops suspect well-planned operation by professionals, as the SUV carrying gelatin sticks was a stolen one, while the white Innova following it bore a fake number plate
The Mumbai Police, along with the country’s top investigation agencies, including the National Investigation Agency and the Anti-Terrorist Squad, have launched a massive manhunt for the white Innova car and its occupants, that had followed the SUV found barely 600 metres away from Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
Twenty gelatin sticks, weighing 2.5 kg, along with a threat letter addressed to the Ambanis, were recovered from the car.
The printed threat letter, addressed to Neeta and Mukesh Ambani and their family said, “nITA bHABI aur mKESH bhyya aur fEMILI, eK jhalak he ye. agli bar ye saaman pora Konekt ho ke ayega. Orijinl gadi me ayega. Tum pora femili ko udane ke liye intajam ho gaya he. Sambal jana. Gud nit (sic). (This is just a trailer, next time the material will be assembled together in an original car. Preparations have been completed to blow up entire family, goodnight)”
The explosive material recovered from the car would have been enough to blow up an entire car, kill its occupants and wreak destruction up to a radius of 200 sq ft, the police said. However, the explosives had not been assembled and no detonator was recovered.
The Police have also recovered a Mumbai Indians bag, the cricket team franchise owned by Reliance Industries, and a couple of car number plates, four of them identical to those of vehicles in the Ambani convoy. The incident came to light on Thursday after the Ambanis’ security in-charge got suspicious on finding a clamped SUV bearing the same number as that of the lead car from Neeta Ambani's security details, a Land Rover. The security in-charge immediately alerted the authorities and when police arrived, they found white sticks, suspected to be gelatin sticks, on the seat of the car. Police immediately called for the bomb detection and disposal squad. Upon checking the CCTV footage of the area, it was revealed that the SUV had been parked by an unknown person at 2.18am, who then lef t in the white Innova that had been following his car. According to Mumbai Police, a Scorpio and an Innova, bearing the fake number plate ‘MH04 AN 6653’ entered the city around 1.20am on Thursday from Thane and reached Carmichael Road around 2.18am. The SUV driver parked outside Shikhar Kunj building and lef t in the Innova minutes later. At 03.05am, the Innova was captured exiting the Mulund toll plaza, said police. Mumbai Police are now tracking the route of the Innova in Thane af ter it exited the city and also when both cars entered Mumbai.
After entering the city from Thane, the two cars took the Eastern Express Highway and from B A Road, reached Byculla from the Khada Parsi statue, turned right. From Nagpada Junction, both vehicles took the Mumbai Central bridge, reached Haji Ali and turned towards Pedder Road first, then turned towards Carmichael Road. According to police, the engine and chassis numbers of the SUV were erased with a grinder. However, police found the registration number embossed on its windshield, using which they contacted its owner, a Thane resident, Hiren Mansukh. According to Mansukh, his car had not been used for the last couple of months because of the pandemic and he had wanted to sell it. For this purpose, he had been “driving it for a couple of days. On February 17, while on the Eastern Express Highway, Vikhroli, the steering wheel got jammed, after which I left the car behind and took a cab. The following day, when I returned to the spot, the car wasn’t there, which I reported to Vikhroli police station,” Mansukh told police.
The gelatin sticks were manufactured in a Nagpur factor y. Police have also contacted the factor y owner for possible clues and are also enquiring with garage owners about the possible modifications to the car.
“We are thankful to Mumbai Police for their quick and immediate action. We are confident that Mumbai Police will complete their thorough investigation quickly,” said a spokesperson, Reliance Industries Limited.