Yashwant Sonawane, the additional district collector who was burnt alive by the oil mafia, was not the first government servant to be “eliminated”. There have been two other instances in the past when government officials have been murdered by the oil mafia.
Ashok Kadam, a vigilance inspector who kept a tab on oil adulteration, was murdered at his Trombay residence on October 31, 2001. The three accused, Chetan Chheda, Lal Khan and Dhanraj Shah, all in the petrol business, had allegedly hired four shooters to kill Kadam, but were acquitted by a sessions court in August 2009.
Also, on January 25, 2001, police constable Rajendra Bhawsar was murdered at Ambad in Nashik. The accused in this murder case include police inspector Jagan Pimple who was later dismissed, Dheeraj Yeole, Raju Kadam, an aide of Chhota Rajan. All of the accused have been acquitted.
After every attack on government officials, the state, in a knee-jerk reaction, announced steps to crack down on oil mafia. It is interesting to note that the state police has not been successful in booking a single adulterator under the stringent MCOCA. Cases initiated in MCOCA courts against well known names in the oil mafia like Antim Totla, Khimji Kataria, Rajesh Gataliya, Lalit Nagpal and Tulsi Singh Rajput have failed to withstand the scrutiny of the higher courts.
For instance, the police filed cases against all these accused under the Essential Commodities Act and Sales Tax Act only.
To sustain the MCOCA, the police has to bring forth records of cases booked for use of violence, threat of violence, coercion or intimidation used either singly or jointly as a member of an organised gang.
All the above mentioned persons have been either directly charged with serious offences or indirectly through their co-accused who are gang members.