Crime branch to Court: MCOCA file in extortion case against Arun Gawli untraceable

MUMBAI: The crime branch officials on Friday informed a special court that documents related to invoking stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in an extortion case registered against gangster-turned-politician Arun Gulab Gawli in 2005 are untraceable.

The statement came in response to the directive issued by special MCOCA judge BD Shelke, ordering the crime branch to produce the missing documents.

Arun Gawli, who is currently serving life imprisonment at the Nagpur central prison for the murder of Shiv Sena leader and corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar, is out on bail.

The current extortion case was filed against Gawli and his gang members for the alleged extortion of money, getting pecuniary gains and using threats to grab properties in Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan in 2005.

Gawli’s lawyer had applied to produce the documents for cross-examination in the extortion matter. According to the special public prosecutor, the material was among those documents misplaced in the 2013 Mumbai floods, which are currently untraceable.

Last month, the court noted that the vague statements from the official authorities were not acceptable. They also remarked that the trial could not be delayed indefinitely, as the case was over ten years old. The court emphasised that priority should be given to such cases and asked the prosecution and the official in charge to provide a specific time frame for submitting the required documents.

Previously, the court gave 15 days to the prosecution to submit the relevant documents as demanded by the defence counsel. However, during the last hearing, the crime branch officers submitted that the documents remain untraceable.

The incident occurred in 2005, when a city-based builder received threatening calls from the gang headed by Arun Gawli, asking him to pay around ₹50 lakh if he wanted to continue the redevelopment project in Ram Shyam Co-operative Housing Society.

The builder was allegedly given death threats and asked to go to Dagdi Chawl, the infamous former residence of Gawli. Subsequently, Gawli and other involved members were booked under various sections of IPC, including dacoity, extortion and criminal intimidation, along with various sections of the Indian Arms Act and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

In April this year, the Bombay high court had accepted a petition filed by Gawli, who had sought a premature release citing a 2006 state government notification in the case involving the murder of the Shiv Sena leader. However, the apex court stayed the high court order in June this year, closing Gawli’s possibility of an early release.