Chandigarh, July 24 (IANS) The crime branch of the Chandigarh police Thursday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of robbers involved in as many as 70 cases of chain snatching and robberies with the arrest of three people.

'We arrested Nadeem Mohammed, Vicky and Sanjay in the early hours of Thursday from the jungle area near Durga nursery in Mani Majra town. Three of them managed to escape during a scuffle with the police,' said S.S. Srivastava, senior superintendent of police, Chandigarh.

The six-member gang operated in Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

'We are expecting to solve more than 70 cases of snatchings and robberies in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana after these arrests. They were active in this region for the last one year. Working girls and aged women were their main targets. All of them are expert drivers and used stolen bikes while committing a crime,' Srivastava said.

A rifle of .315 bore, two live cartridges, two sharp-edged weapons, six gold chains and 17 mobile phones have been recovered from them.