Chase, act and arrest - just like a Bollywood flick.

Five policemen in civvies chased motorcycle-borne criminals and arrested three - involved in loot and dacoity cases over the years - of them from Bhikhari Thakur bridge. The trio - along with another, who fled on a motorcycle - were on their way to rob a woman of Rs 8 lakh.

'The four hardcore criminals were involved in at least five incidents of loot and dacoity in areas like Agamkuan, Kadamkuan, Pirbahore and Alamganj. Our informer told us that a woman who would be withdrawing Rs 8 lakh from a bank would be the gang's target on Wednesday. The information was accurate and we had the motorcycle's model and registration number in which they would be moving. We were also told about the route that they would take. Some of us took position in the Sachivalaya side of the Bhikhari Thakur bridge which leads to areas like Mithapur and Gardanibagh. We did not move on official police vehicles too. The police cannot divulge any details of the woman for safety issues,' city superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande said.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jitender Rana said the arrests would blow the lid off many more cases. 'The three have been identified as Mukesh Kumar, Mahesh Kumar and Ravi Shankar Choudhary. One country-made pistol, two live cartridges, four cellphones, one motorbike and one knife had been recovered from them,' he said, adding that they were investigating in similar snatching cases also.

Sharing details of the operation, which started around 11am and continued for around 20 minutes, Lande said: 'With the police keeping a check on the vehicles, they spotted a black motorcycle, which had two persons on it with the registration number matching our information. While on the move, they spotted and identified the police and started to ride at a swift pace to dodge us. But police caught them in the nick of time. There were two more on another motorcycle moving behind the duo. They saw the commotion and turned their motorcycle back and started to flee. The pillion rider was caught but the one in the front was successful in fleeing.'

SSP Rana said the trio were being interrogated. 'Till now, they have accepted their involvement in five cases. But the police suspect more cases to open,' he said.