Sadhvi, others undergo narco test

Meanwhile, Dombivali resident Jagdish Chintaman Mhatre, who was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad on Friday for his suspected involvement in the Malegaon blast, has nine cases, ranging from petty assault to murder, pending against him in Vishnunagar, Manpada and Mahatma Phule police stations.

“He was an accused in a murder as well as extortion case and we are investigating the details. However, all these cases date back to the 90s and no fresh case has been registered against him in the past eight-nine years,” said Ulhasnagar Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Yenpure.

“There are three cases against Mhatre registered with us, the latest one being in 1999. While all are body offences, none of them are serious enough to merit an ATS arrest. In 1990, he was charged with minor assault and criminal intimidation. In 1994, he had been arrested for abducting a youth and bashing him up. In 1999, we had arrested him for threatening someone with a knife. However, he was not booked for any other crimes by us after that,” said Senior Inspector D L Suryavanshi of the Vishnu Nagar police station.

Personnel from the Vishnu Nagar police station are also engaged in procuring details of Mhatre’s criminal records from neighbouring police stations like Manpada, Dombivali and Mahatma Phule.

Suryavanshi added that while there were vague reports of Mhatre having been part of the KMC gang that operated in Dombivali over a decade back, they are yet to find criminal records that corroborate it. “In fact, Mhatre sustained a leg injury several years back and reportedly walked with a stick. His handicap reportedly prevented frequent trips out of the house,” said Suryavanshi.