Pune: City police is mulling over the implementation of Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) against the suspects - including RTI activist Ravindra Barhate and dismissed cops Shailesh Jagtap, Parvez Jamadar and Journalist Devendra Jain - involved in extortion cases filed by two builders recently at Kothrud and Samarth police stations.
While Barhate and another suspect Prakash Phale are still absconding, Jamadar, Jain, Shailesh Jagtap, Jayesh Jagtap and Amit Karpe were remanded to police custody till July 20 by a court on Tuesday (July 14). Builders Rishikesh Bartakke and Sudhir Karnataki have filed complaints against the suspects at Samarth and Kothrud police stations respectively.
Barhate, Jain, Jamadar, Karpe, Shailesh and Jayesh Jagtap were involved from 2017-18 in a land grab case of an 8500 square feet bungalow with open space. The land parcel is located at Shivaji housing society on Senapati Bapat road. In this case, Barhate was lured into a false deal by Phale, Karpe and Jayesh Jagtap and the trio had usurped around Rs 60 lakh from him. Later when Bartakke demanded his money back by scrapping the deal, Shailesh Jagtap, Jamadar and Barhate threatened him with police and court cases.
In the case filed by Karnataki, a woman named Deepti Aher befriended him and later with the help of another suspect Amol Chavan, Shailesh Jagtap and Devendra Jain extorted money from him. The suspects in this case also threatened Karnataki to transfer ownership of a land parcel located in Rasta Peth.
After Karnataki's FIR was lodged, Barhate had absconded and filed an anticipatory bail application. This application was rejected by District and Sessions Judge S N Sonawane on Friday (July 10).
Barhate already has five cases registered against him at several police stations in the city. Jain and Shailesh Jagtap are charged to have committed together two offences of extortion. Chavan is a criminal-on-police-record. An investigation into the role of other suspects is going on. The conditions required to apply the MCOCA are fulfilled in case of these suspects and thus the police are thinking of taking action against them under this stringent law.
