MUMBAI, May 15 -- A special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court on Wednesday acquitted gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli and six others in an extortion case for want of cogent evidence. Special judge BD Shelke acquitted Gawli and six others after a prime witness told the court that he had not been threatened when he visited Dagdi chawl in Byculla, where Gawli lived. He also said that he had given "donations" to a co-accused of his own accord, contradicting his complaint to the police regarding extortion. Apart from Gawli, those acquitted in the case were Vijay Gulab Ahir, Shrikrishna Gurav, Mohammed Sharif Yusuf Qureshi, Ajit Chandrakant Rane, Sudhir Krishna Ghorpade aka Raju and Motiram Ramchandra Mahadik. According to the prosecution, the incident dated back to 2005, when the complainant, a builder, was executing a redevelopment project in Dadar West. He was told that all builders who had projects in Dadar paid Gawli Rs.50 lakh per project and he too should pay them Rs.25 lakh. When the builder said he would be able to pay the amount only after selling tenements in the project, he was asked to pay Rs.10 lakh immediately. Subsequently, between December 2005 and May 2006, he paid Rs.7 lakh to co-accused Sudhir Ghorpade in instalments. The extortion continued till March 2008, when the builder reported the matter to the police. Gawli is currently serving a life term at Nagpur central prison for the murder of Shiv Sena leader and corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. In April this year, the Bombay high court had accepted his petition seeking premature release but the order was stayed by the Supreme Court in June this year....