MUMBAI: Mumbai police’s assistant inspector Sachin Vaze was arrested by the National Investigating Agency last evening. There are allegations that he played a part in the conspiracy which saw an explosive-laden vehicle found parked near billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Antila residence in south Mumbai last month. The central agency interrogated the celebrity cop for 12 hours before placing him under arrest. He was the lead investigator in the same case before it was transferred to the Mumbai police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and later to the NIA.

A Thane-based auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran had claimed ownership of the abandoned vehicle, informing the cops that it had been stolen a week earlier. Later, his body was found in a marshy area in Mumbai on 5 March. Hiran’s wife Vimla had pointed the finger at Vaze, alleging he had a hand to play in the murder and that he had taken possession of her husband’s car in November, which he then returned in early February and it had been stolen thereafter.

Questions are being asked about the impact Vaze’s arrest will have on the future course of the alleged TRP scam that he was spearheading. In fact, it was he who picked up Republic TV promoter and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami from his home a few months ago. The case has seen several arrests including former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta, and charge sheets had been filed against Republic CEO Vikas Khanchandani, and former BARC COO Romil Ramgarhia earlier this year in January.

Goswami has all along alleged that the entire TRP controversy has been raked up by the Maharashtra government in cahoots with the Mumbai police in an act of vendetta against him and his channel, because they were investigating what they claim was a botched up investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death

A senior media professional on the condition of anonymity stated that with Vaze’s arrest and alleged implication in the explosives case, the credibility of the TRP manipulation investigation can definitely be questioned.