Stuffed Mouth, Evidence Of Beating: Medical Report Hints Mansukh Hiren Was Thrown Alive In Water

According to the report received by Mumbai ATS from Grant Government Medical College suggests that Mansukh Hiren might have been alive when he came in contact with the water.

The medical team conducted a diatom test. Diatoms - single celled algae present in water bodies - enter the lungs and other tissues of a drowning person.

The diatom test cannot provide conclusive proof whether the victim died by drowning or was dead before being thrown into the water, but can be used to corroborate the findings of an investigation.

Reportedly, the ATS is planning to send the report to the FSL in Madhuban, Haryana, for second opinion.

Mansukh Hiren, a Thane-based automobile spare parts businessman and an old associate of Sachin Vaze, was the owner of the explosive-laden SUV found near Ambani house on 25 February.

On 5 March, Mansukh Hiren was found dead after being “missing” for five hours. The police said that it looked like he committed suicide by jumping into Kalwa creek. However, Hiren’s wife alleged that Sachin Vaze, Mumbai crime branch officer, killed her husband.

The post-mortem had revealed dry handkerchiefs stuffed in the mouth of Hiren as well as signs of ante-mortem (before death) injuries. Hiren’s wife alleged that her husband’s one and a half tola gold chain, Titan watch, a gold ring with sapphire stone, five to six ATM cards, and cash were missing.

IANS quoted the Maharashtra Police sources as saying that on the night of 4 March, the mobile locations of Hiren changed frequently.

The mobile phone of Hiren is yet to be recovered.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has already established that it was Sachin Vaze who parked the SUV at the location and planted explosives, purportedly to “restore his reputation”. His role in Hiren’s death is yet to be determined.

Officials reportedly took Vaze to different locations in an attempt to understand how he executed the crime. He was also taken to the Mahim creek and then Saket at his housing society in Thane. NIA is now looking for Vaze’s mobile phone.

The anti-terror probe agency arrested Mumbai police official Sachin Vaze on 13 March, and he was sent to NIA custody till 25 March.

The case of the death of Hiren is currently being probed by the Maharashtra Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which is being monitored by its Chief Additional Director General Jai Jeet Singh and Deputy Inspector General Shivdeep Lande.

However, reportedly, the agency is likely to take over the probe of the death of Hiren as soon as it gets a grip of the threads connecting the two cases.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting him to provide proper security to the wife and children of Mansukh Hiren.