Patna, April 17: Police have arrested a member of a gang which used to roam the city streets in the early hours looking for people travelling on cycle rickshaws.

The group attacked people and robbed them of their belongings.

Their modus operandi was simple. Finding people travelling on a rickshaw on deserted roads, the men used to speed on their auto and block the path of the rickshaw. The passengers were terrorised with weapons and then their belongings were looted.

However, on Sunday morning, tables turned as one of the passengers on a rickshaw resisted a gang of three. The incident in Shastri Nagar area has alerted the police about the presence of the autorickshaw gang.

Patna City superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande told The Telegraph that at least three men in an autorickshaw had intercepted two people travelling on a cycle rickshaw when one of them resisted the attack.

This led to a lot of shouting which attracted a group of morning walkers in the locality.

“After a group of people came forward, the trio knew that they were getting trapped and chose to escape. While two of them were successful in jumping on to their vehicle and fled, people caught one of them. They handed him over to the Shastri Nagar police station,” the officer said.

The police said the man revealed his identity and place of residence during the interrogation. “He said he is a resident of Alamganj police station area of Patna City. Raids were conducted in the area immediately and four men of the same gang were arrested. The autorickshaw used for the crime and a country-made pistol was recovered from the men. All these men are professional auto drivers,” the officer added.

Sources said the sudden busting of the gang was a serious issue and there could be more men involved in the crime.

“There could be more people involved in this. And they might be operating in different areas of the capital. The police are interrogating these men to get more details. These men could have given shape to similar incidents earlier too. Based on their information, investigations will be made and things will be clearer,” another police officer said.

In talks with The Telegraph earlier, district transport officer Harihar Prasad had said there were around 27,000 registered autorickshaws plying in the city. He added the number of autos plying were much more than that.

Sources said there were many autorickshaws, which were plying on the road without any paper or document.

“The police have been nabbing such auto drivers. There is a drive going on. Last week Rs 7,500 was collected as fines from these auto drivers during a vigil. An auto was confiscated. The police are keeping an eye on them,” a police officer said.