According to police, a convoy of more than 40 to 50 vehicles was taken from the Taloja jail to Pune to celebrate Marne’s release. A day after he was released from the Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai, gangster Gajanan alias Gajanan Marne and his aides were booked Tuesday for holding a procession and bursting crackers on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, police said.
According to police, a convoy of more than 40 to 50 vehicles was taken from the Taloja jail to Pune to celebrate Marne’s release. The case has been registered at Talegaon Dabhade police station, under Pimpri Chinchwad jurisdiction, against Marne and his supporters under Indian Penal Code sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant), 143 (unlawful assembly) and 283 (causing obstruction in public way). A drone camera, used by his supporters to shoot the rally, has also been seized by the police.
Inspector Bhaskar Jadhav of Talegaon Dabhade police station said, “As per our primary estimate, there were around 40 to 50 vehicles in the rally. We have seized the drone camera they were using to take images of the rally with an intention to terrorise people. We will soon make arrests in the case.”
Last week, a special court for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had acquitted Marne (54) and his 13 aides in connection with the murder of Santosh Hiraman Gawade alias Pappu, a rival gang member, for the lack of evidence. Earlier, the court had acquitted his 21 aides in the murder of another rival gang member Amol Hari Badhe. Both Gawade and Badhe were affiliated to Marne’s rival Nilesh Ghaywal gang. While Gawade was gunned down on November 4, 2014, Badhe was murdered on November 29, 2014.
Advocate Vijaysinh Thombare, who has represented Marne, said the police have registered the offence out of bias. “He merely travelled from Taloja to Pune and was not aware of who was going to be there outside Taloja jail,” he said.
While Marne, who was in prison for nearly three years, his rival, Ghaywal, facing several cases, is also out on bail, police said. Ghaywal has also been externed by Pune police from the city limits in November last for two years.
According to police, the two gang and a few more criminal outfits are engaged in land and property dealings and there have been bouts of violence between them in the past.