Ex-Mumbai cop Sunil Mane said he would like to plead his own case as he holds a degree in law.
Former policeman Sunil Mane, an accused in the case pertaining to the recovery of an explosives-laden car outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai and the subsequent murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran, on Tuesday withdrew from a special court his application to turn an approver.
In January, Mane, in a handwritten application sent to the court, said he had realized his mistake and the court should consider his "outstanding record" in police career and give him a chance to "repent his mistake" by tendering pardon in the 2021 case.
However, on Tuesday he told the special NIA (National Investigation Agency) court he would not like to press his plea to turn approver and withdraw the same.
The court then disposed of his plea as withdrawn.
Later, Mane said he would like to plead his own case as he holds a degree in law, and the court allowed the request.
In a related development, authorities of Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai complained to the court about misconduct by the prime accused in the case, Sachin Waze, also a former police officer.
They claimed on April 23, Waze fainted in the jail and started vomiting. When prison officials requested him to get admitted to the jail's hospital, he refused to do so and insisted doctors treat him inside the high security barrack.
However, Waze refuted the claim, saying he never refused to get admitted and wanted to know why he was being shifted, looking at his threat perception and unhygienic conditions in the prison hospital.
On February 25, 2021, an explosives-laden SUV was found near Ambani's residence 'Antilia' in south Mumbai. Businessman Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV before it was allegedly stolen, was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5, 2021.
Dismissed police officer Waze is the main accused in the case in which a few more cops are facing charges along with some other individuals.
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