MUMBAI: A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday extended till February 23 the police custody of five Pune residents who allegedly provided logistical support for the firing incident outside film producer and director Rohit Shetty’s 10-storeyed residence in Juhu on February 1.
The five accused – Swapnil Sakat, Samarth Pomaji, Siddharth Yenpure, Aditya Gayaki, and Asaram Fasale – were arrested from Pune on February 2. On Tuesday, they were produced before special judge Mahesh K Jadhav upon completion of their earlier police remand.
The court accepted the prosecution’s submission that keeping them under further remand was necessary for joint interrogation with seven accused arrested last week from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana including alleged shooter Deepak Sharma; and to subsequently probe financial and logistical leads.
The prosecution told the court that interrogation of the five accused had led to the other seven arrests; and the 12 arrested accused were part of two separate modules – the men from Pune procured a scooter and firearms and delivered the same in Juhu, while the other group picked up the scooter and weapon and executed the attack.
Further custody of the five accused was needed for joint interrogation and to establish the sequence of events, conversations between the accused, and financial transactions, the prosecution said.
Defence counsel Ajinkya Madhukar Mirgal, along with Omkar Inamdar and Sachin Zalte-Patil, opposed the plea, saying the police had already had sufficient time to interrogate the accused.
“The initial arrests were made within 24 hours of the crime and the bike was confiscated within 24 hours as well. The police already had their custody for 17 days. What else must be uncovered now with extended custody of these accused,” Mirgal submitted.
Physical custody of the accused was not necessary to trace financial transactions as investigators had already seized their mobile phones, the lawyer said.
During the hearing, accused no. 1 Swapnil Sakat retracted his statement, claiming it was obtained under coercion and that he had been asked to sign it. The court recorded the submission during the proceedings.
Investigators suspect the attack was carried out by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to harm the film director and create fear. Fugitive gangster Shubham Lonkar, an alleged aide of incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has been named as an absconding accused in the case.