Lucknow, Jan 25 (IANS): A young couple has been arrested for snatching bags, phones and other valuable items in Lucknow in order to collect money for their wedding.

The couple have been arrested, along with their aide, who used to stand guard near the crime scene to alert them. He posed as a cop.

The three have been identified as Shivam Rai, Himanshu Yadav and Khushi (all of them aged 19), and they had recently come to Lucknow from Ghazipur.

Shivam has a criminal history with seven cases against him while his girlfriend, Khushi, and their aide, Himanshu, have three cases each against them.

The gang was busted after police identified the motorcycle used by them on Wednesday.

“Shivam used to drive the motorcycle, Khushi rode the pillion and snatched bags and phones from people. They committed three such criminal acts in a week but ran out of luck when police intercepted them through CCTV camera surveillance,” said ADCP Syed Ali Abbas.

The police arrested the couple and recovered some of the stolen goods. Their confession led to the arrest of Himanshu. According to police, Shivam and Himanshu, who dropped out of school after Class 10, are friends. Both are jobless.

“Shivam fell in love with Khushi, also from Ghazipur. When Shivam, who hails from a middle-class background, told his family that he wanted to marry Khushi, his father rebuked him and asked him to get a decent job first,” a police officer said.

“Finding no way out, Shivam and Himanshu committed robberies in Ghazipur but could get around 7,000 only. In 2003, the trio decided to move to Lucknow to make more money. They lived separately in rented accommodations and did not use phones for interaction on the day of executing crimes,” he added. The gang had targeted women in different parts of Gomti Nagar on January 13, January 14 and January 21.