Thane MCOCA court acquits 16 in robbery and assault case

Thane, Nov 29 (PTI) A special MCOCA court in Thane has acquitted 16 persons, including many women, who were accused of committing robbery in a jewellery store and assaulting its staff 17 years ago.

In his order of November 18, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, Judge Amit M Shete of the court hearing cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) gave relief to the accused citing insufficient evidence.

According to court papers, a group of people assaulted the staff at Vishal Jewellers in Khardi, Shahapur, in 2007 and walked away with gold ornaments worth Rs 12.49 lakh.

Altogether, 21 people were named but as one of them was a minor, his case was transferred to the juvenile court. While four others died, the remaining 16 were tried.

The judge pointed to the prosecution's failure to prove charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. He acknowledged that while some accused had prior criminal involvement, the evidence presented was insufficient to establish their guilt in this case.

The judge further noted that though the police had recovered gold ornaments, no conclusive evidence tied the recovery to the accused. PTI COR NR