Agarwal remanded to police custody

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">MUMBAI: A special court on Tuesday remanded city based builder R C Agarwal to police custody till August 9 for his alleged nexus with underworld gangsters like Chhota Shakeel and Fahim Much Much.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Agarwal was arrested by the city police on Monday following a complaint made by former scribe Ketan Tirodkar, who alleged that Agarwal had links with the gangsters and was also involved in an organised crime syndicate.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">The court has booked Agarwal for extortion and aiding with the underworld under the Maharashtra a Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">A distressed Agarwal, who was weeping in the courtroom, pleaded for conditional pardon and exemption of police custody."I am a senior citizen and have always co-operated with the police in the past," Agarwal said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">However, chief public prosecutor Rohini Salian argued before the court that Agarwal had deposed contradictory reports before the police in the past. "The police have still to complete their investigations, and if Agarwal is ''pardoned'' at such a stage, all the other accused in the case will also seek for conditional pardon," Salian said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">The police has sought Agarwal''s custody to probe into some transcripts of audio tapes, his involvement in a property dispute at Kalina and links with underworld gangsters.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Dismissing Agarwal''s plea of conditional pardon, special judge A P Bhangale said the court would think of pardoning Agarwal provided he (Agarwal) co-operated with the investigating police officers and told them the truth. "The court is interested in finding the real truth and bringing the culprits to the book. Till then, under the current circumstances, the accused will be remanded to police custody till August 9," Bhangale said.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">On July 26, Agarwal had withdrawn an application from the Bombay High Court after it refused to quash an FIR registered against him by the police. The HC had also rejected Agarwal''s anticipatory bail plea application.</span></div> </div>