Eleven acquitted in 2016 dacoity case

Thane, May 21 (PTI) A court here has acquitted all eleven accused in a 2016 dacoity case, citing inadmissibility of their confessions among other reasons.

The copy of the order passed by A N Sirsikar, special judge for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, on May 7 became available on Wednesday.

As per the prosecution, Sandeep Ashok Utekar, an employee of a cash courier firm, was waylaid in Ulhasnagar area on August 8, 2016, and robbed of Rs 21,23,053.

Nikhil Kadlag (29), Karan Dalvi (35), Karan Jalpar (35), Mehul Vasita (37), Dhananjay Jadhav (37), Narayan Datta (62), Vishal Jadhav (39), Siddhesh Labdhe (29), Atish Mane (28), Nilesh Yadav (32), and Manglesh Yadav (31) were booked for alleged robbery as well as offences under MCOCA for being part of an organised crime syndicate.

The judge, however, stated in the verdict that there were "significant delays and procedural irregularities" in the identification parade of the accused.

There were also irregularities with regard to confessions of the accused recorded under MCOCA.

Senior officers did "not take proper care while recording confessions," the judge noted, adding that they cannot be relied on, especially after a three-year gap. PTI COR KRK