Thane MCOCA court acquits robbery case accused, cites identity doubt

A special court in Thane district on Monday acquitted a 43-year-old man in a 2022 robbery case in which he was also booked under the tough Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, observing the prosecution failed to prove the accused’s identity beyond a reasonable doubt.

Special MCOCA Court Judge VG Mohite acquitted the accused, Bakar alias Babar Akram Alli, a resident of Bidar in Karnataka, of all criminal charges slapped on him. He was booked under Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the IPC and relevant provisions of the MCOCA.

The special public prosecutor told the court that a woman was robbed of a gold necklace worth Rs 1.5 lakh by two masked motorcycle-borne men at Thakurli in Thane district on October 10, 2022. Advocate Poonit Mahimkar, who represented the accused, sought to punched holes in the prosecution story.

During the trial, the court observed that the prime witnesses failed to reliably identify the accused as the perpetrators wore masks during the robbery.

Judge Mohite noted, “The identity of the accused is not proved beyond a doubt by the prosecution. Evidence of prosecution witnesses is a weak piece of evidence to prove his identity.

They have not properly seen the faces of robbers as they had covered their faces by masks and the incident happened in a fraction of moment.”

The court also discarded the confessional statement of the accused recorded during the investigation as it was subsequently retracted before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

The Judge noted that the mere collection of prior chargesheets (against the accused) is insufficient to establish guilt under the MCOCA when the primary offence (robbery) is not proved.

Consequently, the court ordered the immediate release of the accused.