The arrest of 21 members of the gang has established their involvement in at least three armed loots in Sachin and Rander in recent months and their interrogation could lead to the solving of more undetected cases, deputy commissioner of police M Sekhar told reporters on Tuesday evening.

All 21, who were picked up from different parts of the city in the past few days, were arrested on Tuesday. They will be produced before a magistrate on Wednesday, where the police will seek a remand, the official added. The arrests were made by the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) after a sustained search operation was secretly carried out in the city and the areas of the state bordering Rajasthan and MP.

DCB PI R G Kaneriya and PSI R H Hadiya said that all the arrested gangsters surveyed prospective targets by doubling up as manual labourers or working as sugarcane crop cutters or construction workers. All belong to villages located along the banks of the Banas river on the MP, Gujarat, and Rajasthan border.

The gang kingpin, Dhana Khima Khihuri, and another gangster, Kasu Sabji Sarpota, were nabbed by a DCB team during the early hours of June 30, the officials said. Their interrogation led to the arrest of the others.

Three teams of police commandos had been working on the case for the past month following orders from the police commissioner and details provided by an informer. A number of gang members are also involved in murders and armed loots in other cities, the police said.

The gang was involved in a loot and subsequent attack on a police party off Sachin area that took place in May. The same gang was also involved in the loot near Saaket building off Dandi road and a Rander area loot -- both in the first ten days of May this year.

Dhana and Kasu were arrested on the basis of scars on their bodies as they had sustained injuries in the Dandi loot case after being challenged by the owner of the house, who was himself seriously injured.

Explaining the gang's modus operandi, the officials stated that they surveyed the house or building during the day and forced their way in at night by breaking the door with axes and boulders.

They invariably carried sharp-edged weapons and escaped only with jewellery and cash. They are known to attack persons brutally if challenged. The gang then separately went back, sold off the valuables and divided the spoils before embarking on another dacoity.