Five of these accused have been arrested by the Nagpur police. (Representational)
Police in Maharashtra's Nagpur have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against seven alleged members of an inter-state gang of chain-snatchers, officials said.
The gang was involved in 26 criminal cases in places like Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur, Chandrapur and Dhule in Maharashtra and in Delhi, the Nagpur police said in a release on Monday.
On September 9, two men on a motorcycle allegedly snatched a gold chain of a 60-year-old woman in Lalganj area in Nagpur, the police said.
The Shanti Nagar police had then registered a case under Indian Penal Code Sections 392 (robbery) and 34 (common intention). After finding involvement of seven persons in the crime, the police added IPC Section 395 (dacoity) in the case, the release said.
On Monday, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sunil Fulari invoked provisions of the MCOCA against the seven accused, all from Nagpur and in the age group of 19 to 52 years, the release said.
Five of these accused have been arrested by the Nagpur police, while the other two are currently at the Central Jail in Kolhapur for allegedly committing a crime there, the police added.