Thane MCOCA court acquits 14 alleged Ravi Pujari gang members
MUMBAI: A special court in Thane designated under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) has acquitted 14 men accused of being members of gangster Ravi Pujari's syndicate, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
Ravi Pujari is a notorious gangster who was allegedly involved in various murders and threats to Indian celebrities and businessmen.
The court in Thane held that the prosecution failed to establish the charges against the 14 men, who were arrested by the Thane police crime branch following mobile phone surveillance and intelligence inputs suggesting a plan to rob multiple jewellery shops in the city.
The men were charged with a series of serious offences, including preparation to commit dacoity, membership of a gang of dacoits, criminal conspiracy, possession of deadly weapons in violation of the Arms Act, disobedience of police orders, and offences under MCOCA, including committing and conspiring organised crime. Trial proceedings against eight of the accused were separated after they went absconding.
In its detailed order issued on May 29, Special Judge Amit Shete noted that the prosecution failed to submit critical evidence, including details of the phone numbers allegedly under surveillance. 'The intercepted conversations do not indicate any clear plan to commit robbery,' the court observed.
'There is no material on record to show that the accused persons, by forming an organised crime syndicate, were indulging in offences for wrongful gain,' the court said. It also found no evidence of the accused being involved in a single common crime, weakening the case for criminal conspiracy.
'In conclusion, the investigating agencies have failed to collect sufficient material to implicate the accused. They are entitled to the benefit of doubt,' the court held.
The verdict comes days after a court in Mumbai acquitted gangster Ravi Pujari in a separate case — the 1999 murder of Anil Sharma, an alleged aide of Dawood Ibrahim — marking one of the first judgments since Pujari's extradition from Senegal in 2020.
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