Gang that extorted money from businesses in Andheri East booked under MCOCA

All 11 alleged members of the gang had been booked earlier for serious offences such as attempted murder, extortion, and causing grievous hurt, police said

MUMBAI: The MIDC police have invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999 against alleged members of a gang who claimed they were part of a Mathadi workers union and forced companies operating out of Andheri East to pay hefty sums as protection money.

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According to Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police (zone 10), the gang comprises seven men arrested for allegedly assaulting a businessman who owns an establishment within the MIDC premises on August 17, alongside four absconding accused. The absconding accused include Kannan Chinnadurai Vanniyar alias Bada Kanna, the leader of the gang. All 11 alleged members of the gang had been booked earlier for serious offences such as attempted murder, extortion, and causing grievous hurt.

“The accused operated under the banner of a Mathadi workers’ union and terrorised businessmen in Andheri East with the intent of establishing gang dominance. They had extorted money from numerous people,” Nalawade said.

The activities of the alleged gang came to light when Nadim Nasruddin Shaikh, 27, who owns a business establishment in the MIDC premises, was assaulted with wooden clubs on August 17. Based on his complaint, the police had registered a case against the accused under sections 109(1), 189(1), 189(2), 190, 191(2), 118(2), 352, 308(4), and 61(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Kannan Chinnadurai Vanniyar alias Bada Kanna, the leader of the gang, conspired with his associates to engage in illegal activities, such as violence, coercion, terror, and intimidation against industrialists, real estate developers, and traders in Andheri East, said Nalawade.

The gang forcibly intercepted company vehicles and extracted ‘varai’ or ‘protection money’, often accompanied by brutal assaults using swords, knives, and other weapons, creating an atmosphere of terror in the area, investigators said.

Consequently, following the receipt of approval from the competent authority under section 23(1) of the MCOCA, the accused have been booked under sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2), and 3(4) of MCOCA.