MCOCA invoked against fugitive gangster’s outfit
Officers said that with MCOCA invoked in the case, the arrested accused will remain in jail for a longer period for at six months without bail, if convicted
New Delhi: The Delhi Police crime branch has invoked provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the gang led by fugitive gangster Himanshu Bhau, senior police officers aware of the development have said.

The crime branch has invoked MCOCA sections 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of a member of organised crime syndicate) against the gang, which will be applicable to all members, officers said.
Additional commissioner of police (crime) Sanjay Bhatia said the provisions have been added in connection with an incident on May 6, in which more than 20 bullets were fired at a car showroom in Tilak Nagar, leaving seven people injured.
“We have booked Himanshu Bhau, his key aide, Sahil Ritoliya (who is also suspected to be operating from a foreign country), the two accused arrested in the cars showroom firing case – Mohit Gahlawat,26, and Ketan Kundu,21 — and other members of the gang, some of whom have already been arrested. The case has been transferred to the crime branch from the local Tilak Nagar police station,” said Bhatia.
Officers said that with police invoking MCOCA in the case, the arrested accused will remain in jail for a longer period, if convicted, and may not get bail for at least the first six months. It will also help the investigating team get six months to file the charges heet in the case, compared to the 60-90 days in cases registered under other IPC sections.
Recently, the Mumbai Police invoked MCOCA against Lawrence Bishnoi gang after its role was established in firing outside the house of Bollywood actor Salman Khan, said an investigator.
On May 6 around 7 pm, two men walked to a guard at the Tilak Nagar showroom, gave him a paper slip on which names of three members of the Bhau gang were scribbled, before opening indiscriminate fire at the showroom. More than 20 rounds were fired at the glass door on the ground floor and the glass panels on the first floor of the three-storey building. The showroom’s owner, Manoj Malik, and six others present there were injured after broken pieces of the glass door and panels were shattered by the bullets, and pierced their faces and hands. After the firing, that was captured in CCTV cameras installed at the showroom, the assailants fled on a motorbike, the police said.
“The Bhau gang intended to terrorise people using the shooting incident. A case of attempt to murder and firing was registered at the Tilak Nagar police station. The next day, Malik received a threatening call from an international VoIP number. The caller introduced himself as Himanshu Bhau and demanded ₹5 crore as extortion money from him. Accordingly, section 387 (putting a person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion) of the IPC was added to the first information report (FIR),” said Bhatia.
During the investigation, the special cell arrested Kundu, who was waiting for the two attackers on the bike at the crime scene. He had been tasked by the gang to orchestrate a shooting incident so that the gang could extort money from businessmen. At his instance of the Bhau gang, the two attackers — Mohit Gahlawat, 26, and Ajay Singroha alias Goli, 24 — contacted Kundu,” the officer said.
Gahlawat was arrested in the second week of May from Kolkata in West Bengal by a crime branch team. Singroha was killed in a shoot-out with a special cell team in Rohini Sector 29 on May 26.

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