Three management students of a private college were arrested on Monday on charges of loot and robbing people of smartphones and tablets.

According to police, their modus operandi was to surround gullible youngsters on the road and accuse them of harassing some girl.

The trio, identified as Ranvijay Kumar of Masaurhi (Patna outskirts), Vikas Kumar alias Vicky and Shahid alias Sahil, both from Buxar, were picked up from Kasturba Path off Boring Road. They live in a rented house at Kasturba Path. Initial investigations revealed that the trio frequently changed their place of accommodation and were into crime for some time.

"Seven stolen smartphones and a tablet were recovered during a search at their house," said Sanjay Kumar, SK Puri police station house officer. "After attending their classes, the trio used to come back, change clothes and then move around different parts of Boring Road looking for targets, mostly students from studying and staying in lodges and hostels around."

The trio, after assessing the victims from their physical appearances, used to probe about their antecedents before deciding to con the person.

"The accused used to intercept the target at a secluded place on Kasturba Path or a lane near Krishna Apartment towards late evening. One of them would immediately accuse the victim of talking to and giving missed calls to his girlfriend. His friends would join in, triggering an argument with the target. The youths would ask the victim to hand them over his smartphone to prove innocence. They would check his phone and show him a number, claiming it to be of that girl, and threaten him with dire consequences," SHO Sanjay said. "The victim, mostly from a rural background, would be slapped around by the trio, forcing him to flee, leaving the smartphone. The trio would sell the gadget and divide the proceeds equally before spending the money on their girlfriends. They have admitted involvement in 10 such loots."

The youths had another modus operandi - accuse the victim of being part of a criminal gang and claim themselves to be rivals.

"Patna has many criminal gangs comprising youths of which Mines is the most notorious," SHO Sanjay said. "The trio would accuse the target to be a member of Mines. The victim would invariably chicken out and hand them over the phone and flee. Many victims never reported such cases to the police in fear. We had been tracking them for long. They are being grilled about their possible associates."