New Delhi: After the prime accused of the multi-crore defrauding case Bangalore-based Sukesh Chandrashekhar, Delhi Police now likely to invoke stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against two jail officials who allegedly helped him to extort money from former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Singh's wife Aditi Singh.
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) arrested the two jail officials- Deputy Superintendent Subhash Batra and assistant jail superintendent Dharam Singh Meena- who helped Chandrashekhar to run the extortion racket from jail earlier this month.
According to sources, during the interrogation, con-man Sukesh claimed he did financial transactions with jail officials and they helped him stay safe from investigators on whether calls he made from jail were being intercepted. He also disclosed his financial transactions with jail officials and claimed of giving them Rs 65 lakh every fortnight.
Apart from Sukesh, his acquaintance and Southern actress Leena Paul, Kamlesh Kothari, through whom Sukesh and Leena bought the Chennai bungalow, Samuel, Leena's manager, Arun Muthu, who helped with the cars for Sukesh and Mohanraj, Sukesh's longtime lawyer are already facing MCOCA.
The MCOCA is a law enacted by Maharashtra in 1999 to combat organised crime and terrorism. The Act provides the state governments with special powers to tackle these issues, including powers of surveillance, relaxed evidentiary standards and procedural safeguards, and prescribing additional criminal penalties, including the death penalty.
Investigation revealed that accused persons collectively duped both Shivinder's wife Aditi and his brother Manvinder's wife Japna Singh several crores. Whereas, Aditi Singh had filed a complaint alleging she was cheated of Rs 200 crore by a man posing as a law secretary and promising to help with her husband's legal cases.
The EOW's special investigation team found that Sukesh was making spoof calls using several paid apps and some jail officials allegedly recharged his SIM cards every week.
Currently, Leena Paul and the other three acquaintances were sent to 15 days of Police custody, while the other two accused also got Police Custody for 7 days by the Patiala House court last week.
Police teams are investigating the case thoroughly, to visit various locations, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi.