Thursday, November 10 2005 12:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Stringent MCOCA is likely to be invoked against gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, who is at large after he was booked in an extortion case by Mumbai crime branch, police said here yesterday (Nov 9, 2005).

Police raided Gawli's residence 'Dagdi chawl' in central Mumbai on Tuesday (Nov 8, 2005), soon after he was booked for allegedly extorting lakhs of rupees from a businessman to settle a business dispute. However, police suspect that Gawli sniffed the action impending and escaped.

Crime branch officials told PTI that the Chinchpokli MLA could be booked under MCOCA along with his close aide Sunil Ghate, who is also one of the accused in the extortion case.

"His (Gawli's) case is fit for MCOCA. It has all elements which the MCOCA demands before a person is booked under this stringent law," Crime Branch sources said adding, "Police are in a position to establish that Gawli not just extorted money from the businessman, but the entire case was part of an organised crime syndicate."

Senior crime branch officials refused to come on record on the issue, stating that they have to tread carefully in the probe since Gawli happens to be a people's representative as well. "We also have to ensure that his privileges as an MLA are not breached by any of our action," sources said.

Meanwhile, seniors in the crime branch have not ruled out that the impending action against Gawli could have been leaked to him, helping him to flee before he could be arrested.