Bhubaneswar, Dec. 8: Saheed Nagar police arrested two members of a mobile-snatching gang and recovered 20 smart phones from them.

The police said the arrested are students and were lured to the crime to sport "a flashy lifestyle".

The cops said both the accused used to target mostly students and women who use mobile phones while walking or driving.

"The accused used to drive high-speed motorcycles and escape from the spot immediately after snatching cell phones. Both of them admitted of committing the crime in various parts of the city, including Patia, Baramunda, Chandrasekharpur and Rasulgarh," said a police official.

The cops got the information after finding a middleman who used to buy the stolen mobile phones from the gang.

"The gang involving at least seven minors have been active for the past six months and we are suspecting the gang of snatching more than 100 smart phones during this period," said a police official.

On November 30, Kharavela Nagar police had busted a mobile theft gang and arrested eight youths, including five minor students studying in various educational institutes. The cops had also seized 50 smart phones worth Rs 6 lakh from the gang besides seizing a high-end motorcycle worth Rs 2 lakh used in the crime.

The police said three out of five minors are studying in Plus Two, while the other two are ITI students.

Further investigation revealed that the gang members were drug addicts and used to snatch mobile phones to get money for drugs.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said that urge for a flashy lifestyle lured the students into the crime.

"The parents of minors should play a crucial role to prevent youths, especially students, from getting into such crimes. We are trying to nab the rest of the gang members," said Bhoi.

Statistics also revealed that while as many as 23 engineering students were arrested for petty crimes such as snatching and robbery in 2014, the number went up to 35 in 2015.