A 27-year-old employee of a south Calcutta eatery was arrested on Friday on charges of snatching gold chains from women. Among his victims were morning walkers and a mother who was returning home after dropping her daughter to school.

“Somenath Dasgupta, the accused, snatched the chains riding a motorcycle in the morning and while returning home from work in the evening,” said Jawed Shamim, the deputy commissioner of police, detective department.

The job was mostly done by Jhontu, an associate who rode pillion. The cops are looking for Jhontu.

Somenath, a Harish Mukherjee Road resident, used to leave early in the morning on his two-wheeler, telling his parents that he was going to a gym. “He would snatch chains from morning walkers and return home in a couple of hours. The youth would then leave for work. On his way back home, he would again snatch valuables,” the officer said.

The sleuths said Somenath had snatched a gold chain worth Rs 12,000 from Rima Sen in front of Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan, on April 18, 2008. Priya Gupta lost a chain worth Rs 18,000 to Somenath at the Rowdon Street-Shakespeare Sarani crossing around 8am on August 2, when she came to drop her daughter to school.