Thane court acquits three booked under MCOCA in robbery case

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A special court in Thane district of Maharashtra has acquitted three persons arrested under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in a robbery case, the PTI reported on Tuesday.

According to the news agency, special judge Amit M Shete acquitted Sadik Mohammed Akhtar Khan (38), Rijwan Nasir Shaikh @ Salman (36), and Javed Allabaksh Bagwan (37), citing that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against them.

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Special public prosecutor Sanjay B More informed the court that on December 5, 2016, the accused beat up the victim near Kalwa Naka, snatched away his gold chain, and fled in an autorickshaw, as per the PTI.

The judge, in his order, noted that the accused was arrested on the grounds of suspicion, and in that case, the prosecution ought to have brought on record the reason why the accused, Sadik, swallowed the gold chain on or before his arrest, according to the PTI.

The alleged recovery of the gold chain from the stomach of the accused itself is insufficient to hold him guilty of the alleged offence, he held.

Murder accused on run for 27 years held from Delhi by Thane Police

Meanwhile, a murder case accused who had been on the run for around 27 years was held by the Thane Police in Maharashtra from Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.

The police in Maharashtra's Thane district arrested the suspect from Delhi in connection with a 27-year-old murder case, an official said.

The police said that the action was taken based on a tip-off.

The accused who was identified as 57-year-old man, Mewalal alias Pannalal Murat Chouhan, was apprehended from Swarup Nagar in Delhi on Sunday, assistant commissioner of police (Crime) Madan Ballal told PTI.

While explaining the case details, the official said that Pannalal Murat Chouhan and two other accused attacked and killed Dharamnath Ramshankar Pandey following a petty quarrel in Bhayander on October 5, 1997, he said, as per the PTI.

A case of murder was registered with the Bhayander police station, and one of the accused, Vjyasngh Sriramshigh Chouhan, was arrested on the same day, while the others had remained absconding since then, the official said.

The police received information about Pannalal Murat Chouhan's whereabouts in Delhi and a team of police officials was sent there to arrest him, he said.

The police are now on the hunt for the third accused, Ramdular Pal, the official said.

(with PTI inputs)