Nagpur: Notorious criminal Raja Gaus alias Raja Waris Ali, kingpin of a gang that robbed a jewellery shop and attacked the owner with deadly weapons in 2013, was on Thursday acquitted along with three other accused in the case. Gaus was the main accused. However, the Special Judge (MCOCA) M S Azmi sentenced dreaded criminals Shoeb Khan alias Shibu Salim Khan and Bisensingh Ramulal Uikey alias Faruq alias Mushtaq to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) for their involvement in the sensational armed dacoity at the jewellery shop nine years ago.
Along with Gaus Ali alias Raja Waris Ali alias Mucchu Ali, the court acquitted Moin Ansari alias Lalya Mohammad Ansari, Imran Khan alias Immu Ismail Khan and Satyendra Raj Bahadur Gupta as the charges could not be substantiated against them. Another accused Rakesh alias Dharmendra Rameshwar Pasi is still absconding. The Special Court acquitted all the accused of the charges framed against them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for want of evidence.
According to the prosecution, Surendra Gumgaonkar (33), owner of Shree Mahalaxmi Jewellers, Hiwri Layout, his father Yuvraj Gumgaonkar and their employee Aniket Kadu were at the shop on April 11, 2013. The accused came around 2.45 pm on three Bajaj Pulsar motorbikes. Three of them came inside the shop. One of them was outside the shop and two others were sitting on their bikes. One of the three, who came inside the shop, whipped out a knife. Two others then pointed firearms at Surendra and his father and looted gold ornaments worth Rs 25,000, a cell phone worth Rs 10,000 and DVR worth Rs 7,500.
When they were taking away the DVR, Aniket tried to escape but the robber standing outside the shop opened fire at him. Aniket suffered bullet injuries. Sensing trouble, the robbers fled with whatever they could get in their hands. Gopal Agrawal, owner of the adjacent grocery shop, jotted down the registration number of one the bikes of the accused persons. Surendra informed the police control room about the incident and rushed injured Aniket to Radhakrishna Hospital.
Following Surendra Gumgaonkar’s complaint, Nandanvan Police had registered a case under Sections 395, 397, 307, 201, 34, 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), read with Sections 3/25, 4/25 of the Arms Act, against the accused persons. Gaus Ali alias Raja, Moin Ansari, Shoeb Khan, Imran Khan and Satyendra Gupta were arrested within 48 hours. Bisensingh Uikey was arrested after 16 months of the incident. Later, all the accused were booked under Sections 3(1)(ii) and 3(4) of the MCOCA.
The then Assistant Commissioner of Police Gaund and Senior Inspector Sunil Jaiswal had investigated the case and charge sheeted the accused. During the trial, the court examined 21 prosecution witnesses. As the charges under Section 395, read with Section 397 of the IPC were proved against Shoeb Khan and Bisensingh, the court awarded them 10 years’ RI with a fine of Rs 5,000 each, in default three months additional imprisonment. The court also convicted Bisensingh under Section 4/25 of the Arms Act and sentenced him to one year RI with a fine of Rs 2,000. As the offence under Section 397 of the IPC covers the act of attempting to cause death, no punishment under Section 307 and 34 of the IPC was imposed on Shoeb Khan and Bisensingh by the court.
The court entitled Shoeb Khan and Bisensingh to set off for the period already undergone by them as under trial prisoners. As both of them had escaped from the jail, the period for which they were out would be excluded while commuting the period for set off.
Special Public Prosecutor Adv Vijay Kolhe represented the State. Adv Ahfaz Ansari and Adv Ramesh Rawlane were the defence counsels.
