A call centre executive was waylaid and robbed of cash and his mobile phone in Mohali. The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday.

Acting on the leads provided by victim Ravinder Dhiman of Sector 41D, Chandigarh, the local police arrested all the three accused within hours of the incident. Investigation officer Inspector Baldev Singh said the youths had confessed to the crime.

A sword, which one of the accused brandished while committing the robbery, and a Hero Honda Splendor motorcycle used in the crime were recovered from Amit Kumar, Khalid and Sandeep Sharma, all in their late teens and residents of Sector 56, Chandigarh, said the officer.

Besides Monday’s strike, Singh said, the three confessed to committing several other snatchings and robberies in the area.

Ravinder, who is employed with Vodafone, had left office in Industrial Area, Phase VII, around 12.15 am after his shift got over. Since his friend who was supposed to pick him up didn’t turn up, he decided to walk down to Chandigarh. No sooner had he reached near Phase III-V light point, the three accused came on a motorcycle and stopped him. Ravinder told the police that two of them put a sword on his neck and snatched his Nokia mobile phone and a wallet containing Rs 2,600 in cash and some documents.

Ravinder, in his early twenties, is from Retera village in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh.

As he reported the matter to the Mohali police, they launched a massive manhunt and set up special checkposts. At a checkpost near Hotel Franco in Phase I, a motorcycle, on which the three accused were travelling, was signalled to stop.

With a sword recovered from them, the three were detained. During interrogation, they confessed to the crime and said they were on the lookout for another target, said Inspector Singh.