Mumbai: Shivkumar Gautam, the alleged main shooter in NCP leader Baba Siddique's murder case, on Tuesday told a court here that he apprehends "coercion and pressure" to give confessional statements under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Additional chief judicial magistrate Vinod Patil, while hearing the matter, extended the police custody of Gautam till November 23.
The accused claimed that provisions of the MCOCA might be invoked against him, and said he was not willing to make a confessional statement under the stringent Act. Unlike other provisions of the law, the confessional statements recorded before the police under the MCOCA provisions are admissible (in court) during the trial of such a person or co-accused, abettor or conspirator.
The Mumbai crime branch, in a joint operation with Uttar Pradesh's special task force (STF), apprehended the 20-year-old shooter and four others from Uttar Pradesh on November 10. Gautam and four other accused were produced before a court here on Tuesday at the end of their previous remand.
While the court extended Gautam's police custody till November 23, four other accused - Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh - were sent to a 14-day judicial custody. During the remand hearing, Gautam moved an application before the court, saying he is not willing to give any voluntary confession before the police under the provisions of the MCOCA or any other applicable law.
The plea, filed through advocate Amit Mishra, said that during the course of investigation "the accused has been informed that the provisions of MCOCA will be invoked against him". "The accused respectfully submits that he is not willing to give any voluntary confession before the police under the provisions of the MCOC Act or any other applicable law," the plea said.
"The accused apprehends coercion, undue influence, or pressure to give confession under Section 18 of the MCOCA," it added. Therefore, he has moved this plea to place his "intent and position" before the court, the application read. Meanwhile, police pressed for further remand of Gautam, saying he was not cooperating with the probe.
The weapon used for shooting was yet to be recovered and for which further interrogation of Gautam was required, it said. Former Maharashtra minister Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office building in Mumbai's Bandra East area. He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai, where he passed away.
