Thane court acquits man booked under MCOCA for highway robbery

A special court in Thane district has acquitted a man booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA in a 17yearold highway robbery and dacoity case citing insufficient evidence reported news agency PTIAdditional Special Judge A N Sirsikar acquitted Shobhan alias Gando Himla Machar of charges under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and MCOCAA copy of the order dated April 29 was made available on MondayMachar was arrested in 2008 in connection with a robbery on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway on December 9 2007 during which vehicles were stopped and occupants looted of valuables worth more than Rs 3 lakh reported PTIAccording to the prosecution three leaders of the Youth Congress were on their way to Surat for a public meeting when a gang of dacoits waylaid their vehicle on the highway and attacked and robbed themJudge Sirsikar found the evidence presented by the prosecution insufficient and noted the inability of the witnesses to identify the accusedThe Thane court also questioned the admissibility of a confessional statement recorded by a senior police officerJudge Sirsikar pointed out a procedural violation stating the officer who recorded the confession of a coaccused admitted that police stations involved in the investigation were under his control reported PTIThere is a clearcut violation of Rule32 of the MCOC Rules which prohibits investigating officers from being present during confession recording the judge ruled reported PTIRegarding Machars alleged confession the judge stated The prosecution has not proved the confession of the present accused recorded by the police officer Moreover there must be some other evidence Confession alone is not sufficient to establish the guiltThe Thane court acquitted Machar and discharged three absconding coaccusedThane court acquits man in 2015 triple murder caseLast week a sessions court in Maharashtrarsquos Thane district has acquitted a 44yearold jeweller accused of killing three people including a 13monthold child in a 2015 arson case citing insufficient witness testimony and lack of conclusive evidencePrincipal District and Sessions Court judge S B Agrawal acquitted Bahadursingh Vadansingh Parmar a jeweller of charges under sections 302 murder and 436 mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a house etc of the Indian Penal Code reported PTIThe prosecution alleged that on the intervening night of December 30 and 31 2015 Parmar set ablaze Shukila Babalu Shaikh 18 Taniya Bahadur Singh and their 13monthold son Jaydev Bahadur Singh in their residence at Mira Road east reported PTIWith inputs from PTIatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params