Patna: Police have busted a vehicle-lifter gang, members of which were allegedly involved in several cases of theft across Patna.

The 12-member gang used to target four-wheelers on national highways passing Bihta, Danapur and other areas. The police found four pistols, 11 cartridges and around a dozen looted vehicles on them.

The gang used to sell the loot in Bengal, Mumbai, and the northeast after changing number plates and re-modelling the vehicles.

Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj said: "The Patna police had information about a vehicle-lifter gang operating in Bihta, Naubatpur and Khagaul. We constituted a team comprising officials from Bihta, Naubatpur and Khagaul police stations." The Patna police on Sunday night received information that a few people had assembled near Bihta-Khagaul road and were up to something.

Based on the information Maharaaj alerted the team. Personnel from Bihta, Khagaul, Danapur and Shahpur with senior officers raided the area. The criminals on seeing the police tried to flee but were nabbed. A certain Gautam Kumar of Maner headed the gang, while most of the other members are residents of Maner, Bihta and Naubatpur.

In another development, the Patna police arrested five persons in connection with the murder of 22-year-old Phoolchand Kumar, a fishseller who was killed near Tamtam Padav on Saturday night when he was downing his shop shutters.

Ajay Shastri alias Ajay Paswan was arrested on Sunday.