Robbery at the house of Cafe Mysore’s owner: Court refuses bail to mastermind, one of his accomplices

MUMBAI: A special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court on Wednesday rejected the bail pleas of Premchand Jaiswal, the alleged mastermind behind a high-profile heist, and his accomplice, Hiren Waghela, 40. The heist took place at the residence of hotelier Nagesh Nayak, 44, the owner of the renowned Cafe Mysore in Sion.

On May 13, six individuals allegedly posed as Mumbai crime branch officers and entered Nayak’s house under the pretext of conducting an investigation. They claimed to have information about ₹17 crore in black money stored on the premises, supposedly meant for the Lok Sabha elections. During the staged raid, they fled with cash and gold coins valued at ₹72 lakh. Nayak promptly reported the crime to the Sion police station, leading to the arrest of nine suspects, including two policemen—one of whom is retired. The police subsequently invoked MCOCA against the accused.

During the bail hearing, Jaiswal’s defence argued that there was no evidence to establish him as the leader of a crime syndicate or the organiser of the heist. His lawyer contended that Jaiswal merely provided information about alleged black money at Nayak’s residence to police officer Babasaheb Bhagwat, another co-accused. The defence further pointed out inconsistencies in Bhagwat’s statements in the FIR and supplementary reports.

Waghela’s lawyer claimed he was falsely implicated, arguing that nothing incriminating was recovered from him and that CCTV footage did not place him at the scene of the crime. The defence maintained that Waghela’s only alleged involvement was a phone call to another accused, which they argued was insufficient to establish his complicity.

The prosecution countered by presenting witness statements that purportedly linked Jaiswal to the conspiracy and highlighted his history of criminal activities over the past decade, including seven similar offences. They argued that Waghela, along with other accused, fabricated fake ID cards of crime branch officers to facilitate the crime. The police also stated they recovered ₹97,000 from Waghela’s residence, which they claimed demonstrated his involvement in the conspiracy.

The court took into account mobile phone records showing Jaiswal’s contact with other accused individuals during the period of the crime. The special sessions judge, B D Shelke noted that Jaiswal had arranged for a witness, Nitin Bhosale, in the alleged staged raid. The judge observed, “It reveals from the material placed on record at this stage that this accused no.10 is a leader of a gang, and he, along with his associates, hatched a criminal conspiracy and committed this offence. The material also shows that he is a beneficiary of the cash and gold robbed from the house of the informant.”

Regarding Waghela, the court accepted the prosecution’s argument that the recovery of ₹97,000 from his house and other evidence demonstrated his role in the conspiracy. “It also demonstrates that he was a member of the criminal conspiracy hatched by other co-accused. He is also a beneficiary of the cash and gold robbed from the house of the informant,” the court stated.

The special court concluded that there was sufficient prima facie material to establish the involvement of both Jaiswal and Waghela in the crime and, accordingly, denied their bail pleas.