Hyderabad, Jul 5 (IANS): Police opened fire in the air to catch a gang of robbers near Outer Ring Road on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Friday.

The incident occurred at Pedda Amberpet in Rangareddy district when robbers tried to attack a police party.

Police personnel belonging to Central Crime Station Nalgonda opened fire in the air and arrested the notorious Parthi gang.

The gang had been targeting parked vehicles on Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway. Alerted by a series of thefts, the police had stepped patrolling on the highway.

Nalgonda SP Sharart Chandra Pawar had constituted special teams to keep a vigil. On spotting a gang of suspected robbers, police tried to catch them. When they escaped and entered the Rachakonda police commissionerate, the police officials alerted their counterparts and chased the gang. The gang armed with knives tried to attack the police personnel belonging to both Rachakonda and Nalgonda police, forcing the latter to open fire in the air.

Police managed to catch hold of two offenders while some others escaped.

A series of incidents of robbery were reported around the highway during the last month. Police suspect the same gang was involved in four incidents.

On June 10, a family sleeping in their parked car was robbed by masked men in Chityal. The vehicle was parked on an isolated service road. The gang had beaten up the family of four sleeping in the car and looted four tolas of gold.