Police arrested five members of the Chhota Rajan gang, including a woman and a law graduate, just as the quintet was poised to rob residents of Chitra building near S V P High School on the Shantilal Modi Road at Kandivli (W) last evening.

The woman, 20-year-old Shobha Upadhayay alias Bittu alias Kajal, is the first armed woman gangster to be arrested in Mumbai while actually executing a crime. She is also the first woman associated with the Rajan gang to be arrested in the city.

Police Inspector S G Rajput with the Kandivli police station told Express Newsline that suspicions were aroused when a police patrol squad noticed two men `inspecting' Chitra building at the western end while three others, including Shobha, surveyed the building at the eastern end at around 4 pm. While four ofthe suspects were arrested after a chase yesterday, the fifth was arrested this morning. They have been identified as: Rajesh Rao, Jayesh Singh, Manoj Shah and Shashikant Mishra. The latter is a law graduate doing his articleship.

Shobha, the quintet's ringleader, joined forces with the Rajan gang after her husband, Omprakash, was killed in a firing incident on July 10 this year. Omprakash, also a member of the Rajan gang, was an extortionist in the Kandivali-Malad belt and was charged with three serious offences. Police believe Shobha is a key member of the Rajan gang and is involved in previous offences as well. Now, the Crime Branch also wants her for questioning.

Police say Shobha's associates were to barge into the apartments at Chitra building while she used her wiles to distract the occupants. After the arrest, police found a loaded foreign-made pistol in Shobha's purse as well as an empty cartridge, which suggested that it could have been used in an earlier incident. Investigations reveal thatShobha had returned to the city 12 days ago after her husband's murder and was residing at Appapada in Malad (W).