MCOCA against suspects likely: cops

The invoking of this Act practically guarantees that the accused cannot come out on bail,a senior officer,who did not wish to be identified,told Newsline.

“If found guilty under this Act,it could be punishable with death,or imprisonment for life,and will also be liable for a minimum fine of Rs 1 lakh,” the senior officer said. “The invoking of this Act against the five accused will serve as a precedent and an example to other criminals operating as gangs in the Capital.”

According to the officer,booking them under MCOCA will ensure that “they will not come out on bail and influence or threaten the witnesses in various cases registered against them”.

The South district police today arrested the fifth accused,identified as Ajay Sethi,from the Faridabad-Badarpur border. Absconding since alleged gangleader Ravi Kapoor and the others — Amit Kumar Shukla,Baljeet Malik and Vijay Kumar — were arrested on March 23,the police claim Sethi bought the Wagon-R car after the gang used it to murder journalist Soumya Vishwanathan last September 30.

The police also recovered the car.

A notorious auto-lifter,police officials said Sethi is believed to have stolen more than 1,000 vehicles over the last 20 years. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South),H G S Dhaliwal said the police found his suitcase was packed at his house in Faridabad — having given police the slip recently,he was allegedly planning to move out of the house.

No direct role,say cops
The police said Sethi had no “direct involvement” in Soumya Vishwanathan or BPO executive Jigisha Ghosh’s murders,both allegedly committed by Ravi Kapoor and his gang.

According to the police,Sethi was not aware that the car Ravi Kapoor was trying to sell him was used to kill Vishwanathan,though he had a fair inkling that it was used in “some murder”.

DCP Dhaliwal said: “Sethi asked Kapoor to take back the car once he came to know that it was used in Viswanthan’s murder but Kapoor refused. Scared that the investigation trail would lead to him,Sethi also decided against further selling the car.”

Police officials said Sethi graduated from DAV College in Dehradun,and comes from a financially sound family; his son reportedly studies at a prominent school in Mussoorie. The police have traced his first criminal activity back to 1989,and he reportedly committed nine robberies in Dehradun. He soon graduated to vehicle theft and stuck to that line of crime since,an officer said.

History: Arrested four times
According to sources,Dehradun police and their Delhi counterparts have till date arrested Sethi four times for involvement in various cases of robbery,cheating,fraud,auto-theft and forgery. During his time in Tihar Jail,Sethi reportedly came out on bail in 2003 and since then focused mainly on receiving stolen cars. The officer said he sold off the stolen vehicles primarily in Meerut and Bulandshahr with forged papers.

Sethi never told other auto-lifters his address and frequently shifted locations in Faridabad where he took delivery of stolen vehicles,the officer said.

“The recovered Wagon-R is a vital evidence in the Vishwanathan murder,” Dhaliwal said. “This will help our case in a big way.”

Among other items recovered from Sethi’s house are 305 keys of various vehicles,fake numberplates,locks of 23 cars,and a drilling machine,the police said. The police are yet to get the ballistic report of the seized gun,allegedly used to kill Vishwanathan. The gun is the police’s main evidence against the four suspects.