The accused — Vijay Dattaram Tambe (42), Ganesh Shankar Mishri (35) and Rakesh Rajan Jadhav (30) — were picked up from Borivli railway station. The fourth accused, Rajesh Upadhyay, is still absconding.

The trio had an interesting modus operandi. Senior inspector of Borivli police station Bharat Worlikar said, “They removed rings while shaking hands with people and surreptitiously detached chains while touching them on their necks. They even succeeded in stealing watches.