Stringent MCOCA against 16 history-sheeters from Titwala, Bhiwandi

THANE: Sixteen history-sheeters from Titwala and Bhiwandi area were slapped with Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), 1999, by Thane rural police.

The accused are mostly unemployed and have been commit- ting crimes in the past three years.

The accused were mainly involved in extortion, murder, attempt to murder and other criminal activities.

Four of the accused are from Titwala area and the rest are from Bhiwandi. All the 16 accused were arrested in the past couple of months.

The main accused has been identified as Kiran Domble, who used to head the gang in Titwala, and Ja g an Patil used to handle the gang in Bhiwandi.

Mahesh Patil, superintendent of Thane rural police, said, “The gang of four from Titwala was produced in court and they have been remanded in police custody till July18. The rest of the accused will be produced in court once their custody gets over.”

A police inspector from Thane rural local crime branch said, “During investigation, we lear nt that the gang of accused had lost the sarpanch election. After that, they threatened people and extorted money. They also used to harass the new sarpanch in Thane rural area.”

Patil added, “We booked them under MCOCA on Wednesday. After every crime, they used to get bail and return to criminal activities. The accused, aged between 20 and 30 years, have more than four to five cases against them.”