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Mumbai: Guard held for passing info from prisoner to associates, granted bail
In one of the chits, Harish Mandvikar had purportedly instructed his associate to threaten a prime witness in a 2015 drug case to give a false statement in favour of his friend
The Mumbai sessions court on Monday granted bail to Arjun Ghodake, a guard who was deployed at a high-security cell in Arthur Road jail,and arrested for allegedly passing messages between a gangster lodged in the jail and his henchmen outside the prison.
According to police, Ghodke was helping gangster Harish Mandvikar pass messages to his gang members.
In one of the chits, Mandvikar had purportedly instructed his associate Sachin Kolekar to threaten a prime witness in a 2015 drug case to give a false statement in favour of his friend and main accused Sajid Electricwala.
Electricwala is being prosecuted in a drug racket busted by the Charlotte unit of the anti-terrorism squad. The racket operated from Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri and a haul of 155kg Mephedrone or MD was seized from the gang. ATS had arrested seven accused, including Electricwala, in connection with the case.
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Mandvikar was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch last year for allegedly threatening and extorting money from a businessman. He was charged under the Maharashtra Control Of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999 following which he was lodged in a high-security cell at Arthur Road jail. Mandvikar and Electricwala became friends while being lodged in adjacent barracks at the jail.
On the instruction of Mandvikar, one of his henchmen had approached a witness in the drug case to influence him to depose in favour of Electricwala.
The witness later lodged a complaint with ATS, which arrested three members of Mandvikar gang who later revealed the involvement of the jail guard.
The court, however, granted bail to the jail guard considering that a role was attributed to him on the basis of statement given by a co-accused and therefore, it was not desirable to continue to keep the jail guard behind bars.
