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Thane: Man arrested for robbery escapes from Vartak Nagar police station lock-up

A 30-year-old man who allegedly committed robbery but was booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was recently granted bail over deficiency of evidence. The Sion police had arrested four people for committing robbery. They were presented as a gang and booked for organised crime act. The accused, Vinodkumar Padaichi, is the first to be released on bail.

The police said the incident took place on March 26, 2019, when a manager of a wine shop was robbed of Rs 3.40 lakh cash. The manager was on his way to deposit the cash at Amrut Bar in Sion, when four men robbed him at gunpoint. A case was registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.

By next month, the Sion police arrested four accused, including Bhaskar Subramanium, Ravi Kumar Thevar, Padaichi and Kannan. In July, the Sion police invoked MCOCA against the four men.

Advocate Prashant Gurav, representing Padaichi, said he was lodged in Thane central Jail before being granted bail on August 21 by the special MCOCA court judge Dinesh Kothalikar. “There was no recovery in the case from him. His test identification was not conducted by the investigation agency,” said Gurav.

The court said he will be released on furnishing a personal bond and a surety bond of Rs 50,000. As, Padaichi’s family is in Tamil nadu, he is yet to complete the bail procedure and is still in jail. The formalities will be complete in the next two days. The court has ordered Padaichi to present himself at Sion police station on the first Sunday of each month between 4 and 6 pm till the trial is concluded.