Thursday, May 19 2005 17:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Bombay high court today (May 19, 2005) granted bail to Rajesh Pancharia, arrested under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on the charge of supplying gutka pouch manufacturing machinery to the underworld to help establish business in Pakistan.

Justice R S Mohite granted bail to Rajesh on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and directed him to surrender his passport to CBI, which is investigating the case.

The judge also directed Rajesh to attend CBI office once in a month and cooperate in the investigation.

Rajesh's lawyer Srikant Shivde argued that the accused had sold machinery to a person in Dubai and that it was a legal transaction, as he had received money through cheque. He denied Rajesh's alleged links with the underworld.

Rajesh was arrested last year (2004) along with Jamiruddin Khan alias Jumbo on suspected links with Pakistan-based don Dawood Ibrahim and helping him establish gutka business with the active support of gutka kings Rasiklal Manikchand Dhariwal and Jagdish Joshi. Jumbo is still in custody.

As both Dhariwal and Joshi were in Dubai at the relevant time, a Mumbai court issued warrants against them at the instance of city police. Later, probe was transferred to CBI and both of them appeared before the investigating agency for questioning.