Sena corporator to file private MCOCA case

Rajan Kine, the Shiv Sena backedindependent corporator of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) from Mumbra hasdecided to take the foiled murder bid on himself seriously. The corporator hasdecided to file a private criminal case under the Maharashtra Control ofOrganized Crime Act (MCOCA) to bring the arrested accused as well as the personsbacking them to justice. Advocate Munir Ahmed, the legal counsel forthe Sena corporator informed Thane Plus that the arrest of six persons by theMumbra police in connection with the conspiracy to eliminate his client was of aserious nature. "The six arrested accused as well as the three absconding onesare known hardcore criminals, having the possible backing of some influentialpolitician," the counsel said giving reasons for the private MCOCA cases.The legal counsel informed that the six which includes Ramesh Patil,a NCP leader, are undergoing seven days in police custody since Friday and theprivate case would be filed before the accused persons are able to get out ofpolice detention and seek bail. "The private case could be filed as early asMonday so that the accused under detention are denied chance to get released onbail," Munir Ahmed said. The Mumbra police arrested six personsincluding Patil as well as his five accomplices Iqbal Mullani, Irfan Shaikh,Raju Shanker Yadav, Mayur alias Munawwar Majeed Sheikh and Khwaja Chand Shaikhin connection with the planned elimination attempt. Khwaja Shaikh is a residentof Taloja and is a known hardcore criminal. A country-made revolverwith two rounds, an air gun, a foreign revolver and four rounds of livecartridges as well as a car, a bike and a chopper were seized from thepossession of the accused. Three accused who were part of the conspiracy areabsconding. Two of them have been identified while the police are yet toidentify the third one. Interestingly Kine tipped off the policeabout the bid on July 29 but the complaint has been filed by Anand PrakashPednekar, a Police Sub inspector (PSI) of the Mumbra police station. Thecomplainant has charged the accused with unlawful assembly, assault on publicservant, criminal conspiracy of murder and possession of illegal firearm underthe Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Indian Arms Act. The police FIRclaims that Patil harboured the five criminals to assissinate the Senacorporator but Kine strongly feels that the crime was planned by his archpolitical rival, a local NCP corporator. He suspects that the NCP man is usingall his political might to halt or misdirect the police investigation into thecase and victimize the complainant. Kine is one of the Senacandidates to contest the forthcoming assembly polls from the Mumbra Kalvaassembly segment and feels that the conspiracy is to prevent him from contestingthe polls. He has appointed Munir Ahmed as his watching advocate in the courtproceedings involving the FIR of PSI Anand Pednekar against Ramesh Patil and hisfive accomplices. If the court allows the private MCOCA case then it will be thefirst case of its kind in the entire Thane district. The political fortunes ofmany local politicians would be at stake ahead of the forthcoming assemblypolls.