Police have cited four cases of extortion registered in 2004 and 2005 in which Gawli had been chargesheeted and others in which co-accused were chargesheeted to prove that it is an organised crime syndicate which attracts provisions of MCOCA.
"We went through the previous record of the accused persons after which Gawli and seven others were booked under MCOCA Tuesday morning. All of them have been remanded to police custody till May 14 by a special MCOCA court," joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria told reporters.
Gawli, the lone member in the Legislative Assembly from his party Akhil Bhartiya Sena, is the second lawmaker from Maharashtra after Dhule MLA Anil Gote to be booked under MCOCA. Further tightening the noose around Gawli, police have also arrested six others in connection with the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandikar in March 2007. The police allege that a conspiracy meeting took place in central Mumbai's Dagdi Chawl in which Gawli resides. Those arrested include some of Gawli's aides but it is not clear if the conspirators met Gawli, Maria said, adding that interrogation of the accused persons will throw more light in the matter.
Gawli was arrested on April 21 from Dagdi Chawl in connection with a case of extortion filed by a central Mumbai developer who was allegedly receiving threatening calls since October 2005.
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