Mumbai: A special Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court this week convicted and sentenced two men to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 15.30 lakh on each, for a violent 2020 chain-snatching incident and for operating as members of an organised crime syndicate. The accused stole a gold chain weighing 12 grams from the victim and also hit him on his head. The duo, Zakir Irani (39) and Sonu Jadhav alias Raj (28), were booked in the case around the time chain snatching crimes began to come under the ambit of the stringent MCOCA Act. “The objective was to continue unlawful activities as members of organized crime syndicate by using of violence and by threats of violence to acquire monetary gain. Therefore, the provisions of MCOC Act is attracted to the present case,” special judge Mahesh K Jadhav said. The accused have been in jail since their arrests in 2020, and the sentence will be set off against the time spent in prison.In a 60-page judgement copy made available on Thursday, the judge said that the prosecution had proved that the accused knowingly facilitated the commission of an organized crime under the leadership of Irani. The judge also noted that the duo were involved in other cases too. “…all cases the modus operandi is the same. All the accused hit on the neck of the victim and snatched golden chain or golden mangalsutra from their neck... The prosecution further proved that the accused are members of an organized crime syndicate,” the judge said.The incident took place on Nov 9, 2020.The prosecution, led by special public prosecutor Jaysing Desai, established that at approximately 6.10am, near Goal Garden on Poddar Road, Malad (East), the victim was attacked during his morning walk. The accused, riding a stolen blue motor scooter, approached the victim from behind. Jadhav, the pillion rider, first tried to snatch the gold chain. Upon resistance from the victim, Jadhav inflicted a blow to his head with a helmet, causing him to fall. The duo then forcibly snatched the 12-gram gold chain before fleeing. They also verbally threatened to kill two-three persons who attempted to intervene, shouting, “aage mat aana nahi to gadi ke niche kuchal dunga” (Do not come forward or I will crush you under the vehicle). The court relied heavily on the consistent depositions of the victim, and three eyewitnesses, who all identified Irani and Jadhav in court.Irani, the gang leader and rider of the scooter, was arrested later that day at Dahisar Check Naka. A broken gold chain, a black helmet, and a mobile phone were recovered from his possession. Jadhav was arrested on Dec 15, 2020. His disclosure led to the recovery of the blue jacket worn during the crime, identified by eyewitnesses, and the discovery of the place from where the scooter was stolen.The prosecution proved that the scooter used in the crime was stolen. Further, the prosecution also submitted certified copies of more than one previous chargesheet filed against Irani, establishing the mandatory requirement of “continuing unlawful activity” and proving that the crime was committed as a member of an organized crime syndicate for the objective of pecuniary gain. The sanction for prosecution under the MCOCA were granted by then additional commissioner of police Dilip Sawant and commissioner of police Param Bir Singh. The court ordered the stolen gold chain to be returned to the victim.
