New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS): Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have solved a number of cases of robbery and extortion in the national capital with the arrest of five members of Asif Kalia gang.

Police identified those arrested as Asif, Tariq Salmani, Himanshu and Sumit -- all residents of Trilokpuri -- and Pankaj Rawat, a resident of East Vinod Nagar, and said they were involved in more then 30 cases of robbery, extortion and attempt to murder in east Delhi.

It was found during investigation that Asif had several girlfriends and spent the night in different localities of Pasaunda, Chilla, New Ashok Nagar and Trilokpuri. The investigators tracked down his girlfriends to ascertain his hideouts and those of the other gang members, a police officer said.

"The police teams on Tuesday night, working on specific inputs, apprehended Asif, Himanshu and Tariq Salmani after intercepting a motorbike when they came to meet one of their associates in Pandev Nagar area. Asif also flung his pistol at the police party to evade arrest. Later, based on their information, Sumit and Pankaj Rawat were also arrested," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Omvir Singh said.

"The gang members had recruited budding criminals of east Delhi to get information about police movement in order to avoid arrest," Singh said.

"The gang members on October 19 had robbed Rs 4.5 lakh at gun point from one Sanjay Sharma, a salesman of Rajhans oil company, near Pandav Nagar, while he was going to his office," Singh said.

"On questioning, Asif said he has committed many crimes since he was granted bail last year. He had opened fire on many occasions in Trilokpuri area to create panic among the general public. He used to wear mask and change his hair style whenever he roamed around Trilokpuri area to evade arrest," the DCP said.

Asif used to commit robberies to get easy money and to spend lavishly on his girlfriends. He used to visit Goa and other tourist destinations with his girlfriends, police said.