Pune city police invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against 10 members of a criminal gang led by Suraj Ramesh Pandit, who allegedly went on a rampage and damaged as many as 22 private vehicles parked on the road in Gosavi Vasti, Hadapsar, on October 25 this year.
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An offence was lodged at the Hadapsar police station. A press release issued on Friday stated that Suraj (29) and his aides Yash Jawale (23) and Yuvraj Badhe (23) were arrested in the case, while some of their accomplices are on the run.
Police found that Suraj has allegedly formed a criminal gang, which is involved in offences like threatening people with koyta (machete) to extort money, collecting “hafta” from shopowners and small businessmen. Senior police inspector Ravindra Shelke submitted a proposal to invoke MCOCA against Pandit and his nine aides. Additional commissioner of police Ranjankumar Sharma sanctioned the proposal, the press release stated.
Meanwhile, in a separate case, two persons set four private vehicles, including an auto-rickshaw and three two-wheelers, on fire at Ramnagar in Warje in the early hours of Thursday. The duo also broke the glass of a car in the area, police said. An offence in this case was lodged at the Warje Malwadi police station.
