New Delhi: Notorious wildlife smuggler Sansar Chand finds himself ensnared with no hope of release after the CBI charged him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act of 1999 (MCOCA).The CBI today in the Court of Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Delhi sought extension of police custody on the ground that approval has been given by `Competent Authority’ for invoking MCOCA against accused Sansar Chand.
The law was originally promulgated by the western Indian state of Maharashtra because its capital city, Mumbai (previously known as Bombay ) is considered to be the hub of organised crime in India . This law makes it very difficult for an accused to obtain bail and the maximum sentence can go up to life imprisonment and seizure of property acquired by organised crime. The complaint of CBI will be presented to a designated MCOCA Court in Delhi .
ACMM court of Delhi remanded Sansar Chand to police custody for three days but it is expected that prior to that cases being investigated by CBI against Sansar Chand will be transferred to the designated MCOCA Court . Other criminal cases in which trial has already begun against him will continue to be heard in the ACMM court.
Sansar Chand has five non-bailable warrants against him in Delhi courts, one in a court in Jaipur (Rajasthan state) and his own appeal against a sentence of five years is pending in a court in Ajmer (Rajasthan). He is also an accused in a wildlife case being heard in Haridwar (Uttaranchal state). For the last few months, Sansar Chand had stopped appearing for his court hearings and he had gone undergound. He was arrested by Delhi police on 30th June in a skilled sting operation.
The Jaipur High Court today also rejected the bail application of his wife Rani and son Aakash. They are charged in Jaipur in a wildlife case. His niece is also in custody in a wildlife seizure case of Delhi . Rani is also an accused in a case filed in Panchkula (Haryana state).
Lawyers of Wildlife Trust of India are assisting government prosecutors in all the hearings relating to Sansar Chand and his family.
Organised crime has been for quite some years now come up as a very serious threat to our society. It knows no national boundaries and is fueled by illegal wealth generated by contract, killing, extortion, smuggling in contrabands, illegal trade in narcotics kidnappings for ransom, collection of protection money and money laundering, etc. The illegal trade in wildlife is only next to that in arms and narcotics and slimy operators like Sansar Chand, who have been for years working in a systematic and organized manner warrant such stringent action on the part of enforcement authorities.
