MCOCA pressed against two Pujari gang members

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police has invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against two alleged members of the Ravi Pujari gang.

William Rodricks and Akash Shetty were arrested by the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) earlier this month for threatening a builder.

MCOCA is usually invoked when the crime has a financial angle. Under the act, police get more time for custodial questioning than in the case of ordinary offences under the Indian Penal Code.

Rodricks was arrested from suburban Goregaon on January 15 after he allegedly demanded Rs 2 crore from the builder and also threatened his relatives.

Rodricks has at least three criminal cases registered against him at Goregaon police station earlier (as required under the MCOCA), a senior police official said Monday.

During the interrogation he allegedly revealed that he had provided contact details of a developer to Pujari. Pujari, believed to be hiding in a foreign country, then started demanding 'protection money' from the developer.

Rodricks's questioning led the police to Akash Shetty, another alleged member of the Pujari gang, who was arrested from Mangalore in Karnataka by an AEC team last week.