Mumbai

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) attempted to 'recreate' the crime scene in which a SUV (Scorpio) with 20 gelatin sticks and a threat note, was parked near the Antilia, the home of top industrialist Mukesh Ambani, officials said.

The NIA ferried arrested Assistant Police Inspector (API) Sachin Vaze -- currently in its custody till March 25 -- to the spot and tried to play out the crime scene, as it could have happened, around half a kilometre away from Antilia.

Secured by a large posse of Mumbai Police, the NIA made Vaze 'walk down the road' near Antilia from the spot where the SUV was recovered, to check his gait, movement, timings, etc, to tally with the investigations and evidence collected so far in the case.

This was an important field probe trip for NIA with Vaze who has previously been taken to various other locations in Mumbai and Thane to recreate the entire set of circumstances culminating in the SUV imbroglio on February 25.

The NIA has till date seized around six high-end cars/SUVs, including two Mercedes, a Scorpio, an Innova and a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, which are undergoing special forensic tests by an expert team from Pune.

While some of these vehicles were used by Vaze some were also driven by Thane businessman Mansukh Hiren, who was found dead in the Thane Creek wetlands on March 5.

The development came hours after an NIA team comprising IGP Anil Shukla and SP Vikram Khalate met the new Mumbai Commissioner of Police Hemant Nagrale, Joint CP (Crime) Milind Bharambe and DCP (Crime) Akbar Pathan, at the police Commissionerate on Friday.

The NIA is probing the SUV case while the Maharashtra anti-terrorism Squad is investigating the Hiren death matter.

 In December, former Pakistan senator Afrasiab Khattak said Pakistan is using the Taliban as a "tool" for its dominance in Afghanistan under the pretext of strategic depth.

The peace negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban began in the Qatari capital of Doha back in September. In early December, Kabul and the Taliban announced that they had agreed on the framework of the talks, allowing for discussions to now be held on substantive issues. Little progress, however, has so far been made since then.

Global terror financing watchdog, FATF, in February this year, had retained Pakistan on its "grey list" till June after concluding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27-point action plan that the watchdog had drawn up for Pakistan.