Bhubaneswar, Sept. 4: Police have arrested 13 criminals, who used to rob people by showing them toy guns on the Jayadev Vihar flyover.

The criminals, who belong to three different gangs, include a hotel management diploma-holder as well as a physics graduate with a first-class degree.

Last night, the police used a decoy to nab six goons, who had earlier robbed a commuter on the flyover of Rs 20,000 in cash.

"Since similar incidents had also taken place in the past, we decided to deploy our men in civil clothes on the Jayadev Vihar flyover. Last night, as the gang members tried to snatch a mobile phone from one of our decoys, six of them were caught red handed. However, two managed to escape," said police commissioner R.P. Sharma.

The cops seized Rs 20,000 in cash, a toy pistol, five motorcycles and 40 SIM cards from the criminals.

Investigation revealed that the gang leader, Snehashis Das, a diploma holder in hotel management, was involved in 13 other cases of robbery, snatching and loot.

It has also been revealed that another gang member, Ashutosh Biswal, a native of Jagatsinghpur, holds a graduate degree in physics with first division.

A senior police officer said a life insurance agent, Alok Kumar Biswal, was also a member of the gang.

In another case, the police arrested three persons and recovered from them six gold chains.

The leader of this gang, Prakash Bisoi, had earlier been arrested in March, but he was released on bail on August 18.

However, the very next day after being released from jail, Bisoi tried to snatch a gold chain from a woman in the Airfield police station area.

In yet another development, the police arrested four members of a gang while they were preparing to commit a dacoity at Chakeisihani in the Mancheswar police limits last night.

The cops seized a country-made pistol, an air gun, two live bullets and some sharp weapons from the gang members.

A police officer said the gang was involved in several cases of robbery and dacoity in Bhubaneswar and its adjacent areas.