The arrested men at SSP’s office in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, April 18: Presence of women, it seems, lends strength not just to the quest of ordinary men but also to the operations of criminal gangs.

The city police on Sunday busted one such gang, which used auto rickshaws to rob people in the morning hours. The seven-member gang comprised six men and one woman. The members were nabbed during a late night raid.

The modus operandi of the gang was simple — apart from targeting people on cycle rickshaws, the gang used to pick up passengers from Patna Junction and rob them on the way.

The woman, identified as Mamta Devi, used to act as bait, meant for trapping victims. With Mamta sitting in the auto rickshaw posing as a passenger, the victim would feel a sense of security and never suspect the ulterior motives of the driver. Once in the vehicle, the victim were driven away to deserted destinations, robbed and left behind.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar told The Telegraph raids were conducted after four men belonging to the same gang, were arres- ted from the Alamganj area on Sunday.

This gang is, however, not the only one with a woman member.

Earlier on Sunday, three men attempted to rob two persons in an autorickshaw under the Shastri Nagar police station.

The people of the area caught one of them, while the other men was nabbed as the police conducted immediate raids across the area. This gang too had a woman member.

“These men used to operate in two autorickshaws. Their primary motive was to move around the railway station area early in the morning and pick up passengers to loot them. The woman, who is a relative of one of the gang members, used to help them. She, along with a couple of gang members, used to sit in the auto. An approaching passenger, seeing that the auto relatively full, would get onto it. Once in the vehicle, he would be robbed after the auto was taken to a secluded place,” the officer said.

The SSP said the woman also used to act as an arms carrier for the gang.

“Policemen generally don’t check or frisk women. So if by chance a police team stopped a vehicle, the firearms, mostly country made pistols, could not be found as the woman would be hiding them,” he said.

This gang was involved in more than seven incidents of loot and robbery in the recent past in areas including Agamkuan, Pirbohore, SK Puri, Khagaul, Danapur and Shahpur.

Last year, several such groups which used to work with women were busted.

The SSP said the cops were alert and were looking to nab more such groups. “The police get information about such gangs. The same would continue,” he added.