Five charged under MCOCA of conspiring to intimidate Bhatt
Five persons accused of conspiring to intimidate Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt by firing in his office were today charged under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for their alleged links to gangster Ravi Pujari.
The five - Santosh Pujari, Ramesh Kanojia, Arvind Devadhia, Nityanand Shetty and Sampat Kotiyan - arrested on December 13, were produced before MCOCA judge Mrudula Bhatkar and remanded to police custody till January 29.
Police said that all five had criminal history and they needed their custody to investigate the activities of the Ravi Pujari gang in the city.
On June 14, 2006, an unidentified gunman had entered Bhatt’s suburban Juhu office, fired a bullet and fled, leaving behind an envelope asking the director to call Ravi.
On December 13, 2006, the police received a tip-off that Suresh Pujari, a trusted Ravi aide, was to come to Ghatkopar to murder a hotelier.
Acting on it, they managed to nab the five accused before the crime was committed although Suresh managed to escape.
— PTI
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