MCOCA invoked against five men involved in robbing commuters on Ahmednagar highway

Pune: The Pune police on Saturday booked five men for robbing cash and valuables from commuters on Ahmednagar highway under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.
The five suspects, including two criminals on record, were arrested by the crime branch on the charge of robbing a bag containing Rs13.5 lakh from the car of a businessman by diverting the attention of driver at Wagholi on April 30.The suspects have been lodged in Yerawada central jail.
Police had seized a car, bike and other articles, collectively worth Rs7.14 lakh, from the possession of Gunjal and his accomplices Pradip Kondhalkar (24), Ishappa Pandi (19), Ganesh Kale (32) and Vijay Rathod (22).
Investigations conducted by senior inspector Ganesh Mane from crime branch (unit VI) and his team revealed that gang leader Omkar Gunjal (24) from Lonikand was running an organised crime syndicate for committing robberies and dacoities and creating a reign of terror on Ahmednagar highway over a period of time.
Mane, under the guidance of deputy commissioner of police Shrinivas Ghadge and assistant commissioner of police Laxman Borate, initiated a proposal to invoke MCOCA against Gunjal and others.
Additional commissioner of police (crime) Ashok Morale considered Mane’s proposal and accorded sanction to invoke the stringent law. Assistant commissioner of police crime branch (unit 1) Surendranath Deshmukh will conduct investigation under MCOCA.