Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police are invoking the harshest law on the statute book to crack down on gangsters. 

Past year, they have invoked the stringent Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) against a record 95 individuals, the highest number since the law was introduced in 2002.  Similar to the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act

Despite its severity, KCOCA was rarely used by the Bengaluru police. Over the past two decades, the maximum number of people booked under KCOCA in a single year was 20, with at least eight years seeing no cases at all. 

However, since June 2023, the city police have registered seven cases and invoked KCOCA against 95 individuals.  Prominent figures against whom KCOCA has been invoked include ‘Wilson Garden’ Naga, ‘Kulla’ Rizwan, ‘Bakery’ Raghu, ‘Banaswadi’ Manjunat.