Wardha: MCOCA invoked against gang leader, four accomplices
Police invoked the stringent MCOCA law against a gang led by Suraj alias Toli Manoj Dhadwe and four accomplices active in Wardha's Ramnagar area.
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Police have invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against a notorious gang active in the Indiranagar, Adivasi Colony and Wardha city areas under the jurisdiction of Wardha (City) police station in Wardha district. The gang's leader has been identified as Suraj alias Toli Manoj Dhadwe (27), a resident of Indiranagar, Adivasi Colony, Wardha. Police have named his accomplices as Bhushan Santoshrao Raut (21, Wardha), Shantanu Adesh Neware (Somnath Layout, Ramnagar, Wardha), Gaurav Sanjayrao Jabade (24, Indiranagar, Adivasi Colony, Wardha) and Jatin Satish Raut (19, Indiranagar, Adivasi Colony, Wardha). Police said one more unidentified person was also involved in the gang.
According to police, the gang is accused of repeatedly committing offences such as gathering in an unlawful assembly to assault people, abusing and threatening to kill, causing damage and demanding extortion, causing grievous hurt, attempting murder along with accomplices, transporting country-made and foreign liquor, and violating government orders by unlawfully assembling with weapons to abuse and cause damage. Police said these offences were committed by the gang leader and his accomplices both individually and collectively, for the gang's financial gain and to build its clout.
In this connection, a case was registered at Wardha (City) police station as crime number 1404/2026 under sections 308(3)(5), 318(1), 189(2)(4), 190, 191(5), 351(2), 352, 324(4)(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and sections 4 and 25 of the Indian Arms Act 1959. After the investigation found that the offence was committed by the gang leader and members for financial gain and to establish the gang's dominance, Police Inspector Nageshkumar Chatarkar sent a proposal, through Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar Agrawal, to the Special Inspector General of Police, Nagpur range, seeking to add sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2) and 3(4) of MCOCA to the case and seeking investigation permission under section 23(1) of the Act. The Special Inspector General of Police accepted the proposal and granted permission to investigate under MCOCA, following which the sections under MCOCA were added to the case.
The gang leader and his accomplices had been absconding since the case was registered. A team from the Local Crime Branch, Wardha, under the guidance of Police Inspector Vinod Chaudhari, took them into custody from Barrage Colony in East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, and arrested them in the case. The unidentified accused in the case has since been identified, and police clarified that this accused is a child in conflict with law (a minor).
The investigation into the case is being carried out by Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Arvi, Rahul Atram, on the orders of the Special Inspector General of Police, Nagpur range. The entire operation was carried out under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar Agrawal, Additional Superintendent of Police Sadashiv Waghmare, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Sunil Mahadik and Police Inspector Vinod Chaudhari, by Police Head Constable Amol Atram, Police Head Constable Ashish Maheshgauri, Police Inspector Nageshkumar Chatarkar, Police Sub-Inspector Sharad Gaikwad, Sunil Ram, Woman Police Head Constable Vaishali Karmarkar, and Woman Police Constables Karishma Parchake and Pravin Shinde.
