Nashik:
The killers of Yashwant Sonawane, Additional Collector of Nashik who was burnt alive by the oil adulteration mafia, will be booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The police moved a Nashik court citing that Sonawane's murder was a conspiracy and a syndicate crime.
Under MCOCA, statements recorded in front of an officer of the level of a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) can be admissible in court as evidence. The statements of the co-accused can also be treated as evidence in court. This means it will be virtually impossible for the accused to get bail till the chargesheet is filed.
Most of those arrested in the case have two chargesheets filed against them which is mandatory to invoke MCOCA.
The prime accused in the case, Popat Shinde, had died earlier at a state-run hospital in Mumbai from burn injuries sustained after he was grabbed by Sonawane during the attack on him.
Eleven people have been arrested so far in connection with Sonawane's murder.
Yashwant Sonawane was burnt alive by suspected members of local oil adulteration cartel near Manmad in the Nashik district on January 25.