The stolen goods recovered in Thursday’s raids. Picture by Amit Datta

Nine alleged criminals were arrested in Jadavpur and Mahestala, on the southern fringes of the city, on Thursday. Arms and other items worth more than Rs 2 lakh and an idol of Swami Ayappan were seized from them.

Police said a gang of nine criminals had gathered in front of a nationalised bank in Jadavpur in the morning, plotting a dacoity.

“Following a tip off, our men surrounded the gang and pinned down six criminals. The rest managed to flee,” said Praveen Kumar, the superintendent of police, South 24-Parganas.

Those arrested have been identified as Sanju Khan, Mohammad Nausad, Lal Mohan, Subhankar Das, Sujay Naskar and Bapi Pal. Firearms and cartridges were found in their possession.

Sujay, a Sonarpur resident, was the kingpin. The cops took him to his house, from where they seized several cellphones, gold ornaments weighing 100 gram, watches, CDs, an audio system and instruments to break open doors.

Acting on another tip-off, a team raided a farmhouse in Sampa Mirza Nagar, Mahestala, and recovered a statue of Swami Ayappan that was stolen from a neighbourhood temple on April 7. Three men — identified as Biswajit Bairagi, Seikh Sirajul Islam and Khokan Gazi — were arrested in connection with the theft.

Police superintendent Singh said the three were planning to sell the statue, weighing 27 kg, to someone from Sri Lanka. “All the nine were involved in a number of criminal activities, including dacoity and smuggling,” Kumar said.