Bhubaneswar, March 15: Police today arrested a gang of three snatchers and seized gold ornaments weighing around 70 grams from them.

The accused have been identified as Makara Moharana, 32, Dhaneswar Pradhan, 24, and Bibhuti Sasmal, all residents of Bhubaneswar.

The cops have also seized a motorcycle from the criminals, who are involved in around 20 snatching cases in various parts of the city.

According to the police, the gang was also involved in two snatching cases, which took place on March 6 in five minutes interval, near Governor House Square. The goons had first snatched a gold chain of Santilata Acharya, a home department employee, at 2.20pm, and five minutes later, snatched a gold chain of model Monalisa Jena.

Further investigation revealed that Makara was involved in a number of cases, including bombing and attempt to murder, in the city.

"The gang members were nabbed this morning at Rajmahal Square. Further investigation is on to trace the source where the gang members used to dispose of the stolen ornaments," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

The city has witnessed 15 snatching incidents this month.

Most of the victims are morning walkers. Incidents of loot and snatchings have become a cause for concern for the residents.

Earlier, the criminals used to strike at night, but daylight snatchings witnessed in the past few days have put a poser on the state of security in the city. Flyovers and service roads have also become vulnerable zones as they are not lit properly.

In a related incident, the police suspected Santosh Behera, the suspected henchman of former Congress MLA Ramesh Jena, to be involved in illegal arm trading in the city.

Behera, along with his three associates, were nabbed on Sunday night when they were planning to commit a robbery.

Jena was arrested on March 6 by Berhampur police in connection with a string of criminal cases.

"We have found several photographs of Behera holding pistol. Besides, few photographs were also found in which associates of Behera posed with pistol. We are investigating the matter," said a police official.