Five-member gang held in Nashik

A five-member gang has been arrested here for looting gold ornaments from women by posing as policemen, police said today.

The accused, who duped women in and around highway areas in Nashik were held yesterday, they said.

Gold weighing 30 tolas and a sum of Rs1.9 lakh besides fixed deposit receipts and four motorcycles were seized from their possession, police commissioner VD Mishra told reporters in Nashik.

The modus operandi of the arrested members--Sanghrushi Rathod, Vikas, Deepak, Devrushi and Seema was to trap women wearing gold by posing as police personnel and tell them to keep it aside safe in a bag to prevent theft on the highways ahead and then subsequently snatch it and flee the spot, police said.

On a tip off, they were held in Khambale Shivar on Nashik -- Trimbakeshwar road after police kept a close watch on them, they added.