Court acquits three in extortion case

The special court for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act cases here today acquitted three persons charged with trying to extort money from a bar owner.
The case fell through as the complainant didn't identify the accused in the court.
According to the police, Lakshman Karan, Hassan Sheikh and Javed demanded 'hafta' of Rs 25,000 per month from a bar owner in Dharavi in February 2011.
The first time the bar owner didn't entertain them, so they went to him again and threatened him with a revolver.
On the owner's complaint, police booked them under stringent MCOCA.
However, during the trial, the complainant didn't identify any of the accused in the court, said defence lawyer Swapnil Dighe.

Police also failed to prove that there was any previous case against Karan, which is necessary to invoke MCOCA.
"They just produced a list of cases against Karan without any case papers," said Dighe.
Accepting the defence's arguments, special judge S L Anekar acquitted the trio.