Mumbai: Two mobile phone robbers to be chargesheeted under MCOCA – Times of India

MUMBAI: Mumbai Police commissioner, Hemant Nagrale, has sanctioned a proposal to chargesheet two mobile robbers under the stringent law, Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
This is one of the few cases where mobile snatchers/thieves have been booked under the MCOCA. Nagrale sanctioned the proposal on January 10.
The D B Marg police had on October 14 arrested two accused, Suraj Ramu Nair alias Dhopa (25) and Hrishikesh Chavan alias Vatana (21), both Worli residents. The duo was arrested on charges of threatening and robbing a 25-year-old Grant Road resident who was on his way to his Santacruz office. “The two accused appeared on a scooter at 7 am, stopped the victim, pulled out a knife and threatened him. They robbed him of his mobile phone and Rs 1,000. The duo fled from the scene,” said a police officer.
Senior inspector Pradip Khude, PI Raja Bidkar, PSI Dattatray Yadav began the probe and nabbed the duo the same day when the duo had returned to Grant Road area.
“During the probe we found that the accused had also changed their scooter’s number plate to avoid being caught,” said the officer. Later, police added sections of cheating and forgery against them. The scooter, used in the crime, belonged to an accused’s family member and was seized. “Vatana was released from jail on bail in another case just two days before he was arrested by our team. There are two previous cases of mobile theft registered against him,” said police.
Dilip Sawant, additional police commissioner and ACP Rajendra Chavan supervised the probe. “The application of MCOCA in a mobile robbery case will send a strong message to the mobile thieves,” said Sawant.
“Dhopa has 11 previous cases registered against him in various police stations in the city. The cases include mobile snatching, mobile theft and housebreaking. After going through the previous records of the accused, investigators found it a fit case for MCOCA. “We found that the accused committed the crime for economic gain by threatening the victim. We collected their case details and found their previous crimes registered with the police,” added the officer.
The MCOCA was brought into force in Maharashtra in 1999 to tackle the organised crime syndicate and underworld. Over a thousand persons, belonging to different gangs, groups and suspected terrorists have been booked under this stringent law.