A group of women from Hooghly district was arrested on Sunday for allegedly running a racket that targeted people on buses and in autorickshaws by posing as fellow passengers and robbing them.

Being women, police said they would attract the least attention while picking pockets.

The watch section of Kolkata Police's detective department arrested the women in connection with two cases reported at Burrabazar police station on two separate dates.

One of the cases was reported on December 16 when Rafikul Islam Sheikh, 40, from East Burdwan, was robbed of ₹11.34 lakh while he was travelling on a bus from Howrah to Burrabazar.

The police said he realised the theft while he alighted the bus on MG Road.

The other incident was reported on December 12 in an autorickshaw on the Sealdah-Burrabazar route. The second complainant was robbed of ₹14,200.

“In both the cases, the complainants realised they were robbed in the Burrabazar area. Based on CCTV surveillance and human intelligence, the police managed to nab six women (three were caught from the Hastings area and the rest from near the Alipore zoo),” said the officer.

The oldest of the six is a 53-year-old woman while the youngest is 21 years. They have been identified as Santa Swami, 53, Kabita Swami, 46, Sakila Banu, 50, Renu Swami, Shanti Swami, 21 and Rekha Swami. All are residents of Bandel Balikata in Hooghly district, the police said.

The women would pose as fellow commuters and then craftily pick the pockets of their targets, they said.