Chunabhatti firing case: MCOCA court rejects builder Vimal Jain’s bail plea

Special court denies bail to developer Vimal Jain accused of conspiring and financing gangster's murder. Accused allegedly provided car for crime.

MUMBAI: A special MCOCA court last week rejected the bail application of developer Vimal Jain, who was arrested for allegedly conspiring and financing the murder of gangster Sumit Yerunkar in broad daylight over a redevelopment project in Chunabhatti.

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Yerunkar was killed on December 24, 2023, in Azad Galli, Chunabhatti by his former associates Sunil Patil alias Sunny, Sagar Sawant, Narendra alias Nanya Patil, and Ashutosh alias Babu Devidas Gavand. All the accused used to work under Yerunkar in his gang prior to 2016, when he was jailed. They allegedly fired 21 rounds at Yerunkar, killing him and injuring his three gang members and an eight-year-old girl who was playing nearby.

During investigation, police learnt that Jain, the owner of Hiya Developers, was redeveloping the Patil Galli area in Chunabhatti, where Sunny Patil lived and had made Patil the chief promoter of the project. Vimal Jain is a cousin of Jinesh Jain, a partner in Arihant Builders who allegedly denied the contract for supplying construction materials to Yerunkar’s gang in 2016. Yerunkar and seven other associates were arrested that year for firing at Jinesh Jain’s office and booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

The prosecution claimed that Vimal Jain provided the car used for committing the crime and presented Jain’s bank statements, showing funds were transferred to the co-accused. The defense opposed these allegations vehemently in its bail application.

After hearing both sides at length, special judge Rajesh Katariya observed that there was prima facie material to show the involvement of the applicant in the conspiracy and with the co-accused. “Considering the material and allegation against the applicant, there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations against applicant are prima facie true. The offence is very serious in nature,” the judge noted.