Less than a month after arresting six accused in the Dive Agar Suvarnaganesh idol robbery, the Raigad police claims to have gathered enough evidence to charge the four main accused under the stringent MCOCA.
After arresting the accused — four pardhis and two goldsmiths — in April this year, the Raigad police was doing intense footwork to ensure that the accused don’t get off lightly. The basic requirement to invoke the stringent act in any case is that the accused must have at least two convictions against them in the last year. Teams had been dispatched to various districts to look into their backgrounds.
“Inquiries have revealed that the four pardhis arrested in the case have extensive criminal backgrounds. They have several cases against them in areas like Nashik, Nashik Rural, Ahmednagar and Pune. We are currently gathering the documents of these cases, and will certainly invoke the MCOCA,” said Ashwini Sanap, sub-divisional poli-ce officer, Raigad police.
Ms Sanap added that the chargesheet against the accused would be filed in the next 10 to 12 days. All relevant cases will be mentioned in the chargesheet.
The issue of the idol, which was melted by the accused, is still unsolved. A Pune-based jeweller had offered to make a silver replica of the idol but his proposal was rejected.