In a case of Bollywood films inspiring youths to take to crime, the Patiala police arrested a group of youths from Chandigarh and parts of Punjab, who took to looting and extortion after being inspired by popular flick Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.

According to Patiala Zone IG Paramjit Singh Gill, the Rajpura police on Wednesday busted the gang and recovered a large number of cars looted by them, besides arms and cash. The gang had kept the police of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pardesh and Chandigarh on its toes for long. Investigation is on and it is expected that more clues in the case would be found, he added.

Patiala SSP RS Khatra said four teams were formed by the Rajpura police to nab the gang from a checkpost in Jansua village on the Chandigarh-Patiala highway. The police recovered 14 cars, three pistols, one air gun, one knife, 32 mobile phones, five laptops and 20 alloy wheels from them.

The arrested are Irbanpreet Singh alias Pinki, Amit Sharma and Amandeep Singh —- all residents of Zirakpur, Lucky Singh of Sector 21-D, Chandigarh and Barjodh Singh of village Raipur Fabba in Nawanshahr.

The accused confessed that they used to sell car accessories to Rajwan Khan, a resident of Chhatbir, and Krishan, a resident of Nangla near Zirakpur. They were also arrested later. Another accused Vicky Plumber, a Zirakpur resident, managed to escape and a hunt is on to arrest him.

According to the police, they used to follow the method shown in Oye Lucky Lucky Oye to snatch and steal vehicles.

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