Two teenaged girls chased three mobile-phone snatchers on a bike and handed one of them over to cops near Sahajanand Chowk on Harmu bypass under Argora police station on Thursday morning.

A local resident said the incident took place around 9am when the two girls, aged around 15-16 years, were on their way to a Saraswati Puja pandal at Kartik Oraon Chowk.

“Both the girls were talking on their mobile phones. Suddenly, three men on a bike approached them from behind. One of the riders tried to snatch the phone from one of the girls, but failed because she was holding it tightly. The girls raised an alarm and chased the snatchers for a few meters before catching hold of the second pillion rider,” the local resident said.

He said the girls dragged down the man from the bike and started beating him up.

“Sensing trouble, the two men on the bike escaped without making any attempt to rescue their aide. Alerted by the commotion, passers-by rushed to help the girls. Police control room vehicle, which was patrolling the area to prevent any untoward incident during Saraswati Puja, reached the spot soon after and took the man into custody,” the local resident said.

Confirming the incident, officer-in-charge of Argora police station, Binod Kumar, said the snatcher was identified as Mohammed Kalam, a resident of Nezam Nagar under Hindpiri police station.

“We have recovered a mobile phone from his possession. The phone was snatched from someone else and we are trying to identify the person,” Kumar said.

On the brave girls, he said the duo left the spot after police took the man into custody.

“The girls were not willing to give anything in writing as their mobile phones were snatched. I, however, have asked my investigating officer to keep in touch with them to arrest the two other men who managed to escape.”