A special court designated for crimes under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) has recently denied temporary bail to a former close aide of Chhota Rajan - Ravi Mallesh Bora alias DK Rao.
Rao, 53, in his application filed through advocate Prashant Pandey had told the court that his age made him prone to illness and that he had been falsely implicated in the extortion case. The provisions of the stringent MCOCA cannot be applied to him, his plea said, as the FIR has not shown continued unlawful activity. He is in custody since 2017 and his immune system is weak, it said further and also cited the overcrowding in prisons for his release. Special judge under MCOCA, DS Deshmukh, cited the offences Rao has been charged with - which include that of extortion and sections of the MCOCA and said in his order denying Rao interim bail that the High Power Committee’s directions for temporary release are not applicable to him.
Rao is said to have around 40 cases of extortion registered against him. This particular case relates to his allegedly making threat calls to a the consultant of an SRA project in Antop Hill area between 2014 and 2017, demanding Rs. 50 lakhs and also asking him to leave the project. The project had around a 1,000 tenements and is said to have got required approvals, but Rao created hindrance for him. The consultant approached the Dharavi police station, which arrested Rao from his residence in Dharavi after the complaint was registered. The gangster had been acquitted in an extortion case the previous year and was released thereafter since he was already on bail in other cases of extortion registered against him.
