E-Paper
Police invoke MCOCA against gangster Santosh Jadhav
Punjab police had identified Jadhav as one of the suspects in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala though he has not been booked in that case so far
PUNE: The Pune rural police on Tuesday invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against Santosh Jadhav and his nine associates, including minor.
Punjab police had identified Jadhav as one of the suspects in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala though he has not been booked in that case so far.
The police took his custody for the alleged role in a case of extorting money from a businessman in Narayangaon. Eight of the accused are languishing in Yerawada prison under judicial custody in the same offence.
A report was sent through Pune rural superintendent of police Abhinav Deshmukh to special inspector general (Kolhapur range) Manojkumar Lohiya. The MCOCA provisions were added to the extortion case after the approval from Lohiya, officers said. They said that the police from Delhi and Punjab were expected to seek the custody of Jadhav for further investigation into the Moosewala case.
This is the second time the stringent legislation has been invoked against Jadhav and his accomplices. Jadhav has earlier been booked under MCOCA in connection with the murder of criminal Omkar Bankhele alias Ranya who was shot dead in the Manchar area of Pune.
In June, the names of Jadhav and Siddhesh Kamble, 19, alias Saurav alias Mahakal, had cropped up in the murder of the Punjabi singer who was shot dead on May 29 in Punjab. The Pune rural police who were already looking out for Jadhav in another murder case since August 2021 intensified their manhunt. They had arrested Jadhav and his aide from two villages in Kutch on June 12.
