He had masterminded several mobile thefts in the past eight months. But luck ran out for 24-year-old Rabi Singh, a mobile snatcher, on Sunday night, when he was caught red-handed by a team from New Market police station.

On Sunday night, Rabi escaped after snatching a mobile phone from a businessman, Tarun Ghoshal, on SN Banerjee Road.

According to police, Ghoshal and his friend were waiting for a taxi on the road around 10 pm, when Rabi and two associates snatched his phone and fled.

Ghoshal raised an alarm and a team of cops, led by sub-inspector Siddhartha Chatterjee of New Market thana, chased Rabi and his associates. Rabi was nabbed but the other two managed to escape.

Chatterjee said: “Rabi was arrested and Ghoshal’s mobile phone was seized from him. He was the kingpin of a five-member gang that used to target cellphone-owners at night. He was involved in a number of recent cellphone thefts.”

He added that Rabi and his gang members operated mainly in the New Market, Park Street and Sudder Street areas.

“Three gangs are active in this zone. For the past six months, we have been getting reports of some youths, even women, involved in a number of mobile theft cases. After a theft, they return to their hideouts on the fringes and surface after a fortnight or so. Raids are on to nab other gang members,” an officer of the thana said.