Maha: MCOCA slapped on nine accused of dacoity, assault

Nine accused in nearly 35 cases of dacoity and assault have been booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) by Thane police, an official said.

They were wanted by police in Maharashtra's Thane, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Akola, Washim, Nagpur and Gondia districts, and Bijapur in Karnataka, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Pansare told reporters on Monday evening.

He said on June 24, a team of the police's anti- robbery cell nabbed the nine people from Kalyan-Murbad road in Thane while they were planning to rob a nationalised bank.

Their interrogation and further probe revealed they were involved in as many as 35 offences, including dacoity, assault and attack on government servants, he said, adding the police also seized booty worth Rs 5.37 lakh from them.

They have been booked under the MCOCA, and also under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, Pansare said.

Those arrested are Ilaiaraj Rajshekar (30), Sanjay Naidu (25) (both hailing from Chennai), Benzamin Irgadinalla (26), Dau Yedda (28), Solomon Gogula (29), Arunkumar Petla (24), Rajan alias Raja Gogul (46), Mosha Yakub Modha alias Petla (30) and Daniel Akula (25), (all from Andhra Pradesh).

Search was on for their gang leader, Cinna Gogula, also belonging to Andhra Pradesh, the official said.