Patna, March 28: Around 80 men were arrested in separate raids at 70 police station areas around the district for committing different crimes, today.

Of the 80 people, 10 were hardcore criminals, Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said.

The senior officer said the raid was conducted keeping in mind the upcoming panchayat elections. Several serious criminal incidents have remained undetected in the recent past, he added.

The officer expressed hope that raids could lead to the cracking of several cases.

“The raid started at 1.30am and went on till 5am in the urban areas. In rural areas, the raids were conducted from 5 in the morning and continued till 9am today. The police formed 130 teams and these people were arrested from 36 police stations out of 70. As many as 300 locations and hideouts of the criminals were raided,” the SSP said.

The hardcore criminals who were arrested include Dabloo Mian alias Mohammed Nazeem, who was nabbed from Pirbhore police station area. The man has been accused in seven serious criminal incidents, including four murder cases.