MUMBAI: The Thane special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court convicted four members of the defunct Ravi Pujari gang for their involvement in a firing incident at a builder's office in Nashik.
The special MCOCA court (Nashik) judge UM Nadeshwar convicted Sanjay Singh Ramsingh, Arvind Pradeep Chavan, Vikash Madan Prasad and Sandip Sharma.
While Sharma was sentenced to a five years of rigorous imprisonment, the other three were sentenced to life imprisonment. Inspector Ramesh Mahale, who supervised the probe, said that a total fine of Rs 55.45 lakh has been imposed on the four convicts..
A fifth person who had been accused in the case, Santosh Kumar Prasad, died in a road accident while on the run during the trial. The case was "abetted" said inspector Vinayak Meher. This means, the case was closed due to the death of the accused.
The firing case dates back to 2011 when members of the Ravi Pujari gang barged into the office of Ekta Builders in Indira Nagar in Nashik and fired indiscriminately before fleeing. Two employees at the builder's office had sustained minor injuries in the incident.
The police said that Pujari had been desperately trying to threaten and attack the owner of Ekta Builders, Ashok Mohanani, who had refused to pay up extortion money. The Nashik police had filed a case of attempt to murder,extortion and issuing threats against Pujari and gang.
During the course of investigations, the crime branch of the city police arrested four accused persons in a different case. During their interrogation, it transpired who was involved in the Nashik firing case. Retired police inspector Ramesh Mahale said that the crime branch invoked the stringent MCOCA Act against the accused. Police said the case was probed by assistant commissioner of police Ashok Durafe and inspector K V Nigde who ensured that all evidence, eyewitnesses, reports from the forensic laboratory were presented properly in court.