Mumbai, Oct 29 A special MCOCA court here on Thursday remanded all 11 accused in actor Tiger Shroff firing incident case in police custody till November 6, as police stated that they needed to unearth the “deep-rooted conspiracy” behind the attack.
Gangster Anil Pandit, wanted in the case, had formed an organized crime syndicate with people from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to establish his supremacy and gain economic advantage in Mumbai by targeting prominent personalities, the police said in the remand plea.
The accused were produced before special judge Satyanarayan Navandar after being re-arrested under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
Sending them in police custody, the judge noted that significant material remained to be recovered based on data gathered by the Investigating Officer (IO).
The IO has to dig deep to go to the roots of the conspiracy and verify the information that has been gathered, the court said, adding that sufficient time had to be granted to the police to interrogate the accused for this purpose.
“The conspirators and main accused have to be brought to justice,” the judge said.
Earlier, public prosecutor Sunil Gonsalves submitted that there was a deep-rooted conspiracy which needed to be unearthed. The gang operates with two modules, one conducting recce and execution, another managing logistics and arms supply, the police said.
Arrested accused Fulsingh Kumar, Rehan Rahisuddin Ansari, Ritik Ramu Mahato, Ankit Khatak and Sameer Khatri allegedly conducted reconnaissance and carried out the actual firing, the police said.
The other arrested accused, namely, Radha Verma, Babita Rao, Kunal Jaminsingh, Sumit Saroliya, Jatin K Panchal and Pranjal Thakran, allegedly procured and delivered weapons including hard-to-source foreign-made firearms, to the shooters, the police said.
Investigating Officer Assistant Commissioner of Police Sadanand Rane informed the court that the syndicate used concealed mobile applications to keep communications secret, and its leader was issuing threats to people and openly challenging law enforcement agencies.
Gonsalves argued that face-to-face confrontation of the accused was vital to trace the local ground support, verify whether syndicate funds were routed in Indian or foreign currency, and confront the accused with Call Detail Records (CDRs), forensic mirror images of seized phones, and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports.
The prosecution also stated that voice samples were required to match seized voice notes.
Opposing the remand plea, defence advocate Ajinkya Mirgal argued that the suspects had already undergone 10 to 11 days of custodial interrogation, including during transit remand.
Mirgal contended that weapons and mobile phones had already been seized and deleted chats from WhatsApp and Signal had been recovered.
The court, after hearing both sides, remanded the accused in police custody till November 6.
The police on Tuesday invoked the stringent MCOCA provisions against the accused.
Two shooters fired five rounds at Shroff’s car as he was leaving a football ground on the evening of October 18. While the 36-year-old ‘Baaghi’ actor escaped largely unhurt, his car driver and a bystander, who is a vlogger, were injured.
Members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang purportedly claimed responsibility for the firing.
Of the 11 arrested accused, three were held in Kota, Rajasthan, and the rest from different places in Delhi and Haryana.
Under the MCOCA, a court can grant bail only if it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty. Police get up to 180 days, instead of 90 days under ordinary criminal law, to file a chargesheet under the Act, and they can also seek longer custody of the accused.
As per the MCOCA, confessions recorded before an officer of Deputy Commissioner of Police rank are admissible as evidence in court. Under ordinary criminal law, only confessions recorded before a magistrate’s court are admissible.
(PTI News)
