Seven bike-lifters were arrested from different parts of Dhanbad and 11 stolen vehicles found on them on Sunday.

The accused - Guddu Ansari alias Usman, a resident of Govindpur, Bikki Singh alias Bikram, a resident of Officer Colony, Pradip Kumbhkar and Anand Kumar of Tisra, Santu Rawani, a resident of Mukund, Manoj Das, who stays at CMPF Colony, and Shiva Kumar, a resident of New Colony, Dhaiya - were caught during raids conducted by a special team constituted by Dhanbad police to crack whip on bike thieves.

The team, which was led by DSP (law and order) Dhirendra Narayan Banka and comprised OCs of different thanas, conducted raids at various places in Govindpur, Dhanbad, Baliapur, Sindri and Tisra on tip-offs.

City SP Anshuman Kumar, who formed the team, said the arrested persons were part of various bike-lifting gangs.

Explaining their modus operandi, Kumar said the accused used to first unlock bikes parked at different locations and then dump them at busy areas like railway stations to hide them from police.

"The bikes were then sold in different parts of Jharkhand and sometimes in neighbouring Bengal," he said, adding that the seized vehicles were stolen over the past six months.

The SP said some of the arrested persons had criminal antecedents.

"Guddu Ansari, Bikki Singh and Pradip Kumbhkar have served jail terms twice before for stealing bikes. Santu Rawani had served a jail term for a loot case while Anand Kumar had served sentences thrice for several robberies," the SP said, adding that the criminal history of the remaining two accused were being verified.

When asked if parking lot operators should report to police if they spotted any bike lying idle for long, the SP said that not only parking lot operators but common people should also come forward and inform police about it.