MCOCA slapped against Chhota Shakeel, Dawood's brother Iqbal Kaskar, 3 others

Thane Police on Wednesday slapped Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against five accused -- Chhota Shakeel, Iqbal Kaskar, Mumtaz Shaikh, Israr Sayyed and Pankaj Gangar -- who were booked in connection with an extortion case.

As per MCOCA proceedings, Thane Police will be communicating the sanction to the MCOCA special court.

According to sources, Thane Police will seek the custody of the arrested accused people under the stringent MCOCA section on October 15.

The maximum custody remand under MCOCA is of 30 days and it will help the investigation team interrogate the accused with ample time in hands.

Also the MCOCA accused are rarely granted bail by the court. The minimum time MCOCA accused spend behind bars could be of three years.

One of the five, four have been arrested, while Chhota Shakeel is still wanted. Iqbal Kaskar who was deported from United Arab Emirates in 2003, is said to be operating his brother Dawood's real estate business in the city, the police said.

Madhukar Pandey, Joint Commissioner of Police, Thane, said, "We have slapped MCOCA against all five accused in the first case of extortion. Two more cases have been filed against Kaskar. We have booked Dawood and Anees Ibrahim in one of the cases."

Sources in Thane police said that very soon, the MCOCA sections will be applied in the third case registered against Iqbal, Anees and Dawood Ibrahim for running a organised mafia gang involved in extortion.