THANE: The crime branch in Thane arrested a man in connection with a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) case from Ahmednagar.
The accused, identified as Sitaram alias Baban Khose, was on the run for the past 28 years.
The police said that Khose, who is now 66, was wanted by the Naupada police in an offence under various sections in a case of extortion, threatening, rioting and other sections under the TADA.
“One Arun Mudaliar had complained that it was between April 10,1992 and October 06,1992 Khose had along with the other accused lead by Notorious gangster of B-Cabin Ganya Sawant aka Ganesh Sawant and 27 other accused who had threatened Mudaliar to hand over the plot allotted to him by the TMC in Thane city to Sawant, else give them an extortion money of Rs. 1.80 lakhs,” said Laxmikant Patil, the deputy commissioner of police (crime).
“The accused gang members had then threatened the complainant with revolver, knife and chopper and also created a terror in the region and abused and threatened him of dire consequences of liquidating his family members,” Patil informed TOI.
The accused after committing the crime fled Thane and went to Ahmednagar’s Parner in a village and settled there. “He did the farming there and mixed up with the villagers which did not raise any doubt till date. As he mingled with the villagers and was not around in Thane could not be traced out,” Patil informed.
Based on a tip-off to constable Ravindra Katkar the police , he was in hiding in Parner hiding accordingly the sleuths kept a watch, it was on Monday the Thane police with the help of the Ahmednagar police nabbed him from his village and handed over to the Naupada police who are carrying out further probe into the crime.
Interestingly, sources informed that all the 27 accused in the case have been acquitted in the case but with the arrest of this accused, the trial shall be conducted afresh and the investigators are seeking legal opinion.