Patna, May 29: Police today busted a highway gang involved in a series of robberies on the outskirts of the city this month.

Six of the eight-member gang were arrested, while the remaining two surrendered before the City police.

The arrested included Sanjay Yadav, a resident of Mehdiganj, Bablu Kumar and Pankaj, residents of Alamganj police station area, Pintu Chaudhary, alias Langda, a resident of Agamkuan, Dhiraj Dome of Fathua and Munnu Kumar of Punpun area.

The other two — Mohammed Arman and Mangal Dom — surrendered before the police after the arrest of the six.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said at a news meet on Sunday: “There has been a spurt in incidents of highway robberies in May. A team of police personnel led by deputy superintendent of police Sushil Kumar was formed, which conducted the raids and nabbed the six gang members after a series of investigations.” The gang that used to target godowns on the highway and used to loot materials stored in the godowns.

On the gang’s modus operandi, the SSP said: “These robbers, who used to travel in autorickshaws, targeted godowns located at 300-400m from the main highway.”

The gang members used to first attack the godown’s guards and once overpowered, the gang used to loot the goods stored in the godowns. They also used to decamp with the security personnel’s cash and cellphones. The gang, which preferably operated between midnight and early morning, used to target areas around Agamkuan, Malsalami, Ramkrishana Nagar, Jakkanpur and even areas falling under the jurisdiction of railway police stations.

The SSP said though the quantity of the items looted from the godowns was not much, the incidents were creating a nuisance for the city police. Apart from two autos the gang members used during their crimes, the police also seized three mobiles, two country-made pistols and four cartridges from the possession of the gang members.