Look Out Circular issued as Pune gangster wanted in road rage firing case goes abroad

Pune, Sep 26 (PTI) A Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against gangster Nilesh Ghaywal, who is suspected to have gone abroad even as he faces fresh criminal charges in a road rage case in which a man was shot at by five to six of the former's associates, a Pune police official said on Friday.

Police are also probing how he managed to retain or obtain a passport despite a court order to surrender it, and how he secured a visa, the official added.

Ghaywal, in his late 40s, has over a dozen serious offences registered against him, including for murder, attempt to murder and extortion, he said.

"Earlier this month, members of his gang allegedly fired at a 36-year-old man and assaulted a teenager in Kothrud following in a road rage incident. We have credible inputs that the gangster recently left the country. After verification, we issued a Look Out Circular. We are also probing how he managed to retain or obtain a passport despite a court order to surrender it, and how he secured a visa," the official said.

An LOC is a legal mechanism used to alert immigration authorities when a person wanted in criminal cases attempts to enter or exit India. It is routed through the state CID to the Bureau of Immigration and may precede stronger measures such as a Red Corner Notice.

Once a close aide of gangster Gaja Marne in the early 2000s, Ghaywal later broke away, triggering violent gang rivalries in Pune.

He has previously been booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and detained under the MPDA Act, as per police records. PTI SPK BNM