Gangster Suresh Pujari and 11 others have been acquitted in a 2016 builder extortion bid case by a MCOCA court in Thane, India. The court cited the prosecution's failure to present sufficient evidence and carry out a comprehensive investigation. The accused were charged with attempted murder, extortion, criminal conspiracy, and related offenses. The court ruled that the trial against two absconding accused, Ravindra Ghare and Iqlakh Shaikh, would be discontinued due to the acquittal of the other individuals.
Former MLA Zeeshan Siddique has named several builders and politicians in his statement to police, alleging their involvement in the murder of his father and NCP leader Baba Siddique. Zeeshan claims that developers were in frequent contact with his father regarding redevelopment projects and that one builder used abusive language towards his father during a meeting. He also alleges a false case was registered against him for opposing a redevelopment project. This information is part of a 4,500-page chargesheet filed by police in connection with Baba Siddique's murder.
HS Dhaliwal, special commissioner of police, special cell, told media that the singer's death was an organised and brazen killing.
Despite being a well-organised crime syndicate, the state police department has not been successful in booking even one adulteration criminal under the MCOCA
The high court said the investigation has shown the crime proceeds were used for air travel and purchase of high-end branded gifts for Bollywood celebrities.
A video clip of three accused in an extortion case linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, walking together has emerged on social media. The video also shows a suspended police officer in the group accompanying the accused. The video has sparked controversy and raised questions about the involvement of the police in the case. BJP MLA Suresh Dhas has demanded that the suspended police officer be named as a co-accused in the case and that action be taken against other police officers who have been accused of wrongdoing.
Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said the stringent provisions of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was invoked to strengthen the case against those involved in the IPL spot-fixing saga.
Both Lawrence and Anmol Bishnoi have been named as wanted accused in the April 14 firing incident outside the Bollywood actor Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartment in Mumbai's Bandra area.
The HC has upheld the sentence and conviction of Gawli and other accused.
"We have invoked MCOCA against all the accused in the case," said Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy. According to police, MCOCA provisions can be applied if at least two members of an organised crime gang have at least two charge-sheets registered against them
Dhananjay Deshmukh, brother of slain Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, climbed a village water tank on Monday and threatened to jump alleging that information about the investigation was not shared with the family. He demanded that the accused in the extortion case linked to sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh's murder be booked under murder charges. Family members of the slain sarpanch and Opposition leaders are demanding that state minister Dhananjay Munde's aide Walmik Karad, arrested in a related extortion case, be booked for murder. Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigation suggests that the sarpanch had tried to thwart an extortion bid on an energy firm operating a windmill project in the region. After climbing down the water tank, Dhananjay told reporters that he trusted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' assurance on the probe. He further said his agitation was not a drama but a serious yearning for justice for his brother.
Walmik Karad, a close aide of Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, has been charged with ordering the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, who allegedly opposed Karad's extortion bid targeting a wind energy company. According to a chargesheet filed by the state Crime Investigation Department (CID), Karad allegedly asked his associates to "eliminate" anyone who interfered with their extortion attempt. Deshmukh was abducted, tortured, and murdered in December 2024 after he attempted to stop the extortion bid. Karad and several others have been charged with murder, extortion, and organized crime.
The Mumbai police have named Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, as the main conspirator in the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique. Eight accused in the case, including the alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam, have been remanded in police custody till December 7. The police invoked provisions of the stringent MCOCA against all 26 accused in the case. Anmol Bishnoi, who was recently detained in the US and lodged in a prison there, has been shown as a wanted accused in the case. He was providing financial support to other accused, and a probe is underway to ascertain the source and utilization of funds. The crime branch has so far arrested 26 persons in connection with the case.
Sources in the Delhi police said the investigation has made much progress and they have "enough evidence" to prove an organized crime syndicate in the case to justify slapping of MCOCA against the accused cricketers.
The other three people chargesheeted are Arif Abubakar Shaikh, Shabbir Abubakar Shaikh and Mohammad Salim Qureshi --- all residents of Mumbai.
"You will create history by doing this job and your name will be there in all newspapers and other media," it said, citing their conversation.
The Karnataka Legislative Council passed a bill to curb hate speech, facing strong opposition from BJP and JD(S), who criticized it as 'draconian' and a threat to free speech. The bill proposes jail terms and fines for hate crimes and repeated offenses.
Designated Judge Y B Shinde, presiding over the special court, said none of the accused had more than one chargesheet filed against him or her for invoking provisions of MCOCA.
The Delhi high court on Monday granted bail to four convicts serving life imprisonment in the murder case of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan.
The police are also likely to take custody of Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in a jail in Gujarat's Sabarmati, and was also contemplating invoking the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in the case, he said.
The Mumbai crime branch on Tuesday filed a supplementary chargesheet in the sensational murder of senior crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey, which detailed the role allegedly played by journalist Jigna Vora.
The court also ordered that of the total fine amount imposed on the convicts, Rs 12 lakh will be paid to the victim's family.
Gangster and Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar has been taken into custody by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a drugs case, the agency said on Wednesday.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police on Wednesday told the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court in Mumbai that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative and a key 26/11 handler Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal was involved in terror activities since as far back as 1996.
Faisal Sheikh, Tanvir Ahmed, Kamal Ansari and Ehtesham Siddiqui were booked under MCOCA
Walmik Karad, an aide to Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party minister Dhananjay Munde, was on Tuesday charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in an extortion case allegedly linked to the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh.
The accused, Vickykumar Gupta, stated that Lawrence Bishnoi has been wrongly named in the case and that he had no role to play in the shooting as alleged by the Mumbai police.
The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court on Friday framed charges against 26/11 handler Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case. The court filed charges against Jundal under sections of MCOCA, the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Explosive Substance Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Six months after the murder of senior crime journalist J Dey, the Mumbai police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against 12 accused, including fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan, in the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court in Mumbai.
The Bombay high court on Wednesday granted bail to Paulson Joseph, an alleged member of the Chhota Rajan gang and accused in the murder of journalist Jyotirmoy Dey.
Suspended cricketer Ajit Chandila, arrested in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing case, was on Monday remanded to fresh police custody for three days by a Delhi court after the agency said he is required to corroborate evidence collected from other accused after invoking MCOCA.
He had filed his nomination from Umarkhadi assembly constituency in south Mumbai.
Khan's statement and the contents of the FIR at this stage indicate "the shots were fired in the direction of his place of use in his house", the court said in its order.
Claiming that journalist Jigna Vora, held in connection with the murder of senior crime reporter J Dey, is not co-operating in probe and contradicting statements, police on Thursday sought permission from a special court to conduct narco-analysis test on her but its plea was turned down.
A government official said that Daya Nayak had been suspended. He, however, declined to comment on what led to this development.
The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act Court in Mumbai allowed the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad to interrogate two accused in connection with the last week's Hyderabad blasts on Monday.
In a new twist to veteran crime reporter J Dey murder case, police on Friday arrested Jigna Vora, a senior woman journalist under the stringent Maharashtra control of Organised Crime Act for allegedly abetting the crime.
The court extended the judicial custody of pacer S Sreesanth and 22 others in the IPL spot fixing case till June 18 after Delhi Police informed it has invoked MCOCA provisions against them.
In the arms case, a Maharashtra ATS team had chased a Tata Sumo and an Indica car on the Chandwad-Manmad Highway on May 8, 2006, and arrested three terror suspects while seizing a huge cache of 30 kg RDX, 10 AK-47s and 3,200 bullets from the vehicle and along the road. The Indica, which was allegedly driven by Jundal, who hails from Beed district, however, could not be intercepted at that time, according to ATS.
