COIMBATORE: Three members of an interstate ‘Iranian’ gang involved in attention diversion crimes have been arrested in Coimbatore on Thursday.

Special teams of police nabbed the trio: A Gurbanik (27), M Barith (25) alias Mohammad Barith, and M Yashim Ali (57), all hailing from Nagpur, after tracking them for over a week in Maharashtra. A search is on for their kingpin, Saleem Ali, who is on the run.

Police launched a search for the notorious gang after they diverted the attention of one Subomanghshi (29), a goldsmith from West Bengal, and stole away a ten sovereign gold chain.

While he was proceeding to the smithy with gold on 12 September, four persons intercepted him by impersonating a tantric. They asked him to perform a remedy (pariharam) to stall some misfortune likely to befall his family.

The culprits then sprayed some water on his face, received the jewels, and asked him to go for a short walk and return. When an unsuspecting Subomanghshi went for a walk by following their instructions and returned, he was shocked to find them missing with his jewels.

The Variety Hall police registered a case and scrutinised CCTV footage in the neighbourhood and found them taking different autos before escaping in a car with a Maharashtra registration number.

Following their arrest from Nagpur in Maharashtra, inquiries revealed that their members were involved in similar offences across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Karnataka. Police seized the car, and a search is on for the kingpin. They were produced in a court in Coimbatore and lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison.