Mumbai, Jan 23 (IANS): The Bombay High Court on Monday declined to give bail to former cop Pradeep Sharma who was arrested in connection with the planting of an SUV laden with gelatin sticks outside the residence of billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, and the subsequent murder of the vehicle owner and Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and R. N. Laddha dismissed Sharma's appeal challenging a Special NIA Court order which had rejected his bail plea of February 2022.

The SUV laden with gelatin with a printed death threat to the Ambani family was found abandoned near the iconic Antilia building on February 25, 2021, and on March 5, the vehicle owner Hiran was found dead in the Thane Creek.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which took over the probe from Maharashtra Police and arrested Sharma in June 2021, contended that he allegedly conspired with another sacked policeman Sachin Vaze to finish off Hiran, considered a 'weak link' in the entire conspiracy to terrorise the Ambanis.

The NIA said that Hiran was in the know of the entire plot and the accused Sharma-Vaze were worried that he would spill the beans on them, so they plotted to eliminate him.