In a major breakthrough, Ranchi police arrested dreaded gangster Rajeev Kumar Mishra, alias Bittu, along with two aides from Simalia Karamtoli locality in Ratu thana area on Saturday afternoon.

Two country-made pistols of 7.65 calibre, six round of live cartridges, four mobile phones and one SUV (JH 01G 3234) were recovered from their possession.

"Ranchi police had been gathering intelligence about them, which confirmed they were planning a gang war with a rival criminal group. They were arrested from a vacant plot of one Manish Singh," Ranchi SSP Prabhat Kumar said while giving the details at a news conference on Sunday.

SSP Kumar said Bittu, who hailed from Muzaffarpur district in Bihar but was lately a resident of Pandra police station area, had been arrested along with aides Prakash Yadav and Mukesh Singh.

They have been sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail.

A fourth man, apparently from Jamshedpur, who was also a part of the huddle with Bittu, Prakash and Mukesh in the deserted area around 2.30pm, managed to flee the spot when the police swooped in on them.

Bittu, who is accused in 14 criminal cases, including five murders, as well as other cases of dacoity, loot and extortion, had come out on bail in August this year on one case and simce then had been apparently in the process of regrouping his gang.

Prakash is wanted in six criminal cases while police are gathering Mukesh's criminal history.

"The fourth man who escaped is also dreaded," said the SSP but declined to name him for purposes of the investigation.

According to the SSP, there are around seven members in the Bittu Mishra team, a rival gang of the notorious criminal Sandeep Thapa, which also operates in Ranchi.

"Interrogation of the arrested trio will reveal whether members of the Thapa group were their targets or whether they planned something else. But, both groups have been in frequent gang wars since last many years, killing or injuring each other's members," the SSP said.

In 2012, Bittu had allegedly shot dead one Jai Goswami of the Thapa gang. In retaliation, the Thapa gang tried to Bittu near Kanke Road in Gonda police station area in which one of his associates, Jitendra, had died.

In 2013, then Ranchi SSP Saket Singh had arrested Bittu in a murder case.