MUMBAI NOVEMBER 17: Kishore Keswani, a Shiv Sena corporator of Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) and a prime accused in August's chemical theft case has now been charged under the Indian Explosives Substances Act following revelations that the stolen chemicals were ``prime ingredients'' used in the manufacture of high-intensity explosives. Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Ashok Devre, today confirmed that Keswani had been charged under Section 5 of the Indian Explosives Substance Act which when read with Sections 284 and 286 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could mean 20 years of imprisonment for Keswani.Thane crime branch had intercepted a tempo carrying chemicals in August and arrested its owner Keswani. They had also launched a manhunt for another accused Kamal Bathija, a close relative of Ulhasnagar's deputy mayor, Kumar Ailani. Chemicals worth Rs 2,75,000 were recovered from the tempo which was seized.
The investigations were subsequently handed over to the central police station, Ulhasnagarand samples of the seized chemicals were sent for analysis. The analyser report that the police received recently has said the chemicals were of ``volatile nature'' and were generally used as ingredients in making explosives. The report identifies the seized chemicals as monomethyle-aceto-aceta nitrate, carbon diasphide and tri-methyle phosphate.
Police suspect that Keswani in collusion with another local Shiv Sena leader and a former aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Gopal Rajwani, was involved in a racket involving theft of explosive-grade chemicals and their sale abroad. Rajwani has since been detained under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Persons Act (MPDA).
However, investigations were hampered as Keswani obtained a bail from holiday court on August 2, just a day after he was arrested, on the pretext that he was scheduled to attend the inauguration of his hotel at Lonavala the next day. When the Thane crime branch sent a team to Lonavala for verification, they learnt that no such hotelexisted there.
Keswani was granted bail till August 5 and the police were certain that they would be able to arrest him as soon as his bail expired. But Keswani proved to be too smart and got his bail extended.
Baffled and beaten, Thane police moved a application in the division bench of the Bombay High Court in the second week of August seeking the cancellation of of Keswani's bail. The application is yet to come up for hearing. The senior police inspector of the Central police station, Ramesh Bhival, said, ``He is a well-connected man. He must have ensured that the case should not come on board. From our side we are trying our best.''
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Printer-friendly page