7 yrs on, Thane court acquits gangster, 4 others in murder bid and extortion case

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Thane, Feb 5 (PTI) A special court here has acquitted gangster Suresh Pujari and four others charged under the stringent MCOCA in a case of attempt to murder and extortion from a hotelier in 2017, noting the prosecution's case had "major inconsistencies".

Since the prosecution failed to prove the basic offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the accused are also entitled to the benefit of doubt for the offence under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), special court judge Amit M Shete said in the order on February 1.

The prosecution failed to establish the accused's involvement in the case beyond a reasonable doubt, said the court order, a copy of which was made available on Wednesday.

Suresh Pujari, a former associate of gangster Ravi Pujari, was deported to India from the Philippines in 2021 after being on the run for several years.

The gangster has more than 50 FIRs of extortion registered against him at police stations in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.

According to the prosecution, a masked person entered Hotel Galaxy in Nallasopara area of neighbouring Palghar district in Maharashtra on May 7, 2017 and enquired about the establishment's owner.

The person then allegedly opened fire at the hotel's manager, identified as Dilip, and fled on a motorcycle before leaving behind a chit bearing the name of gangster Suresh Pujari.

The injured manager was rushed to a hospital and a case was subsequently registered under various IPC sections including 307 (attempt to murder), and provisions of the Arms Act, Bombay Police Act and the MCOCA.

Based on the investigation, the police arrested five persons - Suresh Basappa Pujari alias Shetty alias Satish Shaikh Pai (62) (referred to as video parlour owner in Mumbai), Raj Sheshrao Chavan alias Sunil (31), Ali Abas Jafar Khan (33), Sudhakar Sunder Christpriya alias Anna (58) and Mohd Saimi Mohd Ali Shaikh alias Sameer (29), all caterers from Mumbai, Palghar and Surat in Gujarat.

The police claimed the accused were members of an organised crime syndicate and were involved in an attempt to extort money from the hotel owner.

After nearly seven years of the trial, the court dismissed the charges, stating the prosecution's case suffered from "major inconsistencies".

The judge said the injured informant as well as the hotel staff failed to identify the accused who actually fired from a gun inside the establishment.

"The investigation officer failed to carry out a TI (test identification) parade of the arrested accused to ascertain their presence at the scene. In the absence of identification, it is hard to say that the accused have really executed the alleged crime," the court said.

The prosecution relied upon voice samples, but procedural lacunae such as the lack of section 65B certificate (under the Evidence Act which authenticates electronic records) and the possibility of tampering with recordings rendered the evidence unreliable, it said.

"The prosecution may have rightly invoked the offence under the MCOCA. However, the prosecution and witnesses failed to prove the basic offence under IPC. Since the basic offence is not proved, the accused are also entitled to the benefit of doubt for the offence under MCOCA," the court said. PTI COR GK