Nagpur, Dec 22 (PTI) Nagpur police 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 here, 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 hailing 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 lodged at the Central Jail in Kolhapur for allegedly committing a crime there, the police added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)